Story Of My Life
by I-Breached-UR-Security
Summary: When Teacher finds her dying is when she really starts to live. EdwardXOC.
1. The Death and Transmutation of My Mother

**Why, hello. Well, I'm I-Breached-UR-Security and I've been writing fanfiction for almost two years, mainly Code: Lyoko and a small bit of Naruto. This is my first attempt at a Full Metal Alchemist fanfic. It will have OCs in it, (EdwardXOC and some EdwardXWinry.) I'm not sure how many, but there will be, and I claim all original characters. I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or anything along the lines in it. I will use songs in some chapters, (like this one, which is Broken, by Lindsay Haun) and I will give credit for the owner's whenever I do. By the way, her name is prounounced "k-eye-ree." Thank you for reading! Be sure to review. :D**

_**Wake up to a sunny day**_

_**Not a cloud up in the sky**_

_**And then it starts to rain**_

_**My defences hit the ground**_

_**And they shatter all around**_

_**So open and exposed**_

My first memory? My mommy.

I can remember her standing over my crib, smiling, talking to me. I don't remember what she said, which is a big deal, since I have an extremely good memory. If I've been hurt before, I don't forget.

My father wasn't around much after I turned three, mainly because of his job: dog of the military, the Blood Alchemist himself. His name was given because he used to be able to use alchemy in order to fry someone's blood from the inside. Not something I'm proud of.

_**But I found strength in the struggle**_

_**Face to face with my troubles**_

Mommy died when I was four.

I remember because I was there.

She walked in the house while I was at the table, carrying a blanket she'd bought in town that day. She went upstairs with it, and set it on her bed. I could hear her above me; I continued to stuff my face with a scrambed egg. I loved her food.

When mom reached the top of the stairs, she fell. All the way down, clomp, clomp, clomp. I was home alone with her, and my father wasn't due home for two days. I sat there for a minute and waited for her to get up and say, "Oh, clumsy me." Laugh, do something. But she didn't move. I didn't grasp the concept of death until shortly after that, so I got down from the table.

Mommy's eyes were closed and blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth. I assumed she was sleeping, so I shook her. Her body was still warm with life, and I guessed she was very tired so I shouldn't wake her up. I ran upstairs and grabbed the blanket, then covered her up with it.

_**When you're broken**_

_**In a million little peices**_

_**When you're trying**_

_**But you can't hold on anymore**_

I waited for her to wake up all day, and I got hungry again at dinnertime, so I finished my eggs. I'd never been much of an eater, so it wasn't much of a problem.

I tucked myself in, but Mommy still wasn't awake when I woke up the next day. "Are you sick, Mommy? Should I get the doctor?" I touched her arm, and it was cold as ice. "You're cold, Mommy. I'll get you a blankie." I remember her pale face, the way she didn't twitch, didn't breathe. I remember how I didn't understand, so I skipped upstairs, grabbed a blanket and a pillow, the ran back down to my mother.

I propped her head with the pillow, covered her with another blanket, and brought her my stuffed dog, Tibby. She "slept" through the whole day.

_**Every tear**_

_**Falls down for a reason**_

_**Don't you stop beleiven**_

_**In yourself**_

_**When you're broken**_

I got hungry again, and opened the fridge. I took out an apple, ate it, went to bed, and woke up early the next morning to the sound of a car.

"Daddy's home, daddy's home!" I cried happily, rushing down the stairs and passed Mommy, then right out the door and into my father's waiting arms. He had other officers with him, all dressed in blue,

"Oh, Kairi, I missed you. Where's your mother?"

"Daddy, Mommy fell down the stairs." I talked seriously. "Now she's sick and I can't wake her up."

"What?" A look of disbelief flashed across his face, but I'd never been one to make up stories, so I took his hand and brought him to where Mommy lay.

"She was cold, so I gived her blankies and a pillow." My mother's face was white and she lay entirely still, her long blond hair stretched around her face. My father's wail surprised me. "Daddy? Daddy?"

The other officers surrounded us, looks of sympathy stretched across their faces.

_**Little girl don't be so blue**_

_**I know what you're going through**_

_**Don't let it beat you up**_

The funeral was sad. I remember my father pulling my blond hair back into pigtails and putting me in a black dress. Everyone wa sad. Right then and there was when my father explained death to me.

"Everything that lives has to die." He said softly. "It's the way this world works. But there's no written rule anywhere that says they have to stay dead. I'm going to get your mother back for you." I hugged him, happymy mother would be coming back.

My father didn't even attempt to keep his foolish promise until I was eight.

_**Hitting walls and getting scars**_

_**Only makes you who you are**_

_**It only makes you who you are**_

I remember that day so well. We lived in the middle of nowhere, so no one was around. It rained all day, but it was crystal clear by night fall. That was when my father attempted human transmutation.

I didn't understand; I'd never even tried alchemy back then. He just told me to sit in the corner while he drew a strange circle in the middle of our wooden floor. He threw a bunch of ingrediants in the center of it.

"Kairi, watch me. I'm bringing your mother back." He clapped his hands together, then touched the circle with them. Light blue colors started to swirl around him, while I curled up under a wooden chair, not afraid, not understanding how terrified I should have been.

_**No matter how much your heart is aching**_

_**There is beauty in the breaking**_

_**Yeah, yeah, yeah**_

It was then that everything in the room turned black, but right in front of my father stood a big, golden door. It opened, and little faces stood on the other side. Evil-looking, wriggling snakes flew out, right past him, and grabbed _me_.

I screamed, and I thought I was melting, They were dragging me through to the other side. I screamed loudly then, because I'd finally learned fear. "Kairi! Kairi!" I felt his hand on my foot, and he threw me back, hard. I hit the wall, then the ground, and watched as they wrapped around him like leeches and dragged him through. They turned back for me.

I did what any sensible person would have done: got up and ran. I was scared for my life at that point. So when I got outside, as if on cue, the sky opened up and it rained hard on my head. I slipped and fell into the mud, then turned around on my back. There they were, the evil little bugs, frozen, staring at me. I clapped my hands like I'd seen my father do, then touched them to the ground. A half-sphere of mud formed around me.

That was my first alchemy.

_**When you're broken**_

_**In a million little peices**_

_**And you're trying**_

_**But you can't hold on anymore**_

_**Every tear**_

_**Falls down for a reason**_

_**Don't you stop beleiven in yourself**_

_**When you're broken **_

When I awoke, I was still in my Mud-gloo and it had stopped raining. I ran to the edge and kicked my way through. I jogged to the house, out of breath, exhausted. When I opened the door, my heart pounding, it was deserted, except for a heap laying on the floor in the middle of my father's circle. I stepped toward it. That was supposed to be my mother.

_**Better days**_

_**Are gonna find you once again**_

_**Every peice will find it's place**_

When I looked down, I saw her. It was her face, and she looked beautiful as always. But she didn't open her eyes, and she didn't move. Just as though she'd fallen down the stairs again.

I started to cry, but stopped myself. I covered her with a blanket, went upstairs, and picked up a backpack.

_**When you're broken**_

_**Oh, when you're broken**_

When I was packed, with alchemy books, clothing, and a little food, I left.

I didn't bother looking back, I just walked forward, wondering what I was supposed to do next. I was just an orphaned eight year old. Living more than twenty miles from anyone, I ran up the road until I grew tired, then walked. I kept going. I didn't cry.

It was hard.

_**When you're broken**_

_**In a million little peices**_

_**And you're trying**_

_**But you can't hold on anymore**_

_**Every tear**_

_**Falls down for a reason**_

_**Don't you stop beleiven in yourself**_

_**When you're broken **_

But I lived.

My name is Kairi Sierra Alkamime.

This is my story.

**Chapter oooooooooooneeeeeee. Review! :) And sorry it's not really FMA right now, but it shall be soon, I promises!!! :D**


	2. Up Until Today

**So the city in here ("Glory") this chapter is the day after the incident with Wrath (the dark haired kid with he creepy smile that stole Ed's arm and leg.) The next day is going to happen differently, I'm going to write it to fit my story. :P Sorry, haha. I would like to thank my two reviewers: tig tig kitten and Squeaker-dee. I don't remember which one of you asked me if the mother is going to be a Humonculus, but that would probably screw with my plot a little. I'll take it into consideration, though. Thank you for your support! :)**

_**Human kind cannot gain anything**_

_**Without first giving something in return**_

_**To obtain, something of equal value must be lost**_

_**That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange**_

_**In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth**_

The next day at dinner, the young boy discovered on the island sat, stuffing himself with food, his eyes awash with emptiness- as if his whole life depended on each bite making it into his mouth. As if he would die if he didn't eat more. Sausage, biscuits, gravy and eggs disappeared down his throat. He took a third plate, finished it, and then Teacher took his plate away.

He looked up at her, a smile on his face, his eyes wide and trusting, as if he knew Teacher would give her life for him. It caused a feeling of disgust deep inside Ed's stomach; he didn't understand the way Teacher babied the kid.

"Come on, Al," Ed turned to the large suit of armor beside him.

"Where are we going?" Al asked, standing up.

"Ed's going to take care of the dishes," Teacher threw over her shoulder. "Al's going to help him."

"But I'll get filled up," Al protested.

"Not if you're drying and putting them away. I'm going for a walk." She turned to the little boy, who had stood up and was then hiding behind her, as if he was still terrified of Ed and Al after the night before. A smile spread across Teacher's face. "Are you coming, little one?"

"Uh-huh," he replied. They'd gotten him clothes, by then, and he smiled trustingly up at her. Ed wanted to gag. The kid had stolen his arm and leg, yet she treated him like her own child.

Teacher took his hand. "Do you know where we're going?" He shook his head. "We're going to a pond I know of. It's just over a mile from here, right on the edge of the village. It's got fish and frogs in it, and lots of places for you to play at the edge of the water. Does that sound like fun?"

"Yeah," he smiled and hiccuped. Just like a little baby.

They continued their walk. It only took them about fifteen minutes to get to the edge of the village. She led him around for an eighth of a mile, then they stopped at a pond that was about ten feet across. It was rather pretty, but some of the edges of it were brown thanks to the advancing heat. He squated beside the edge of it, and his fingers gingerly felt the water. A frog jumped beside him, and he cried out as he lost his balance and almost slid into the water. Teacher grabbed his arm and lifted him to a standing position.

"Be more careful. It's just a frog," she pointed at the green amphibian that had come to a rest on a lillypad.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Who's who?" Teacher asked. "Where?"

The little boy pointed across the pond. Teacher squinted. Long, blond hair, caked with dirt, arms and legs sprawled at odd angles, face down... she took the boy's hand and hurried to the other side. He kept asking, "Who is she? Who is she?" She didn't reply, simply because she didn't know.

Kneeling down beside the figure, she shook the arm gently. "Are you alright? Do you need help?" The girl shuddered and a small wail escaped her, but other than that, she didn't move. The boy pushed her over onto her back; she had bruises all over her cheeks, forehead, and arms. Her jeans were ripped to sheds, to the point where they were barely able to hold on to her thin legs. Her tee shirt was in tatters and stained with blood. Her whole body was covered in mud and she looked as if she hadn't eaten in days. There was blood seeping from a gash just above her left eye.

Wordlessly, Teacher lifted her up and started to carry her home.

**Anywho...**

I left my house at the age of eight. I walked a long time after that. At some point I ended up in a big city, lined with huge walls. On the inside were rows and rows of houses and markets. I learned that this city was called Glory, and nothing else, for the townspeople were easily offended. I was hungry, dirty, and tired by then, so I snatched a plate of fish out of someone's window and ran, a man cursing after me.

Afraid and alone, I curled up inside a large cardboard box and ate the fish with my hands. It tasted warm, of my mother's cooking, of _home_. I nearly wept, then. I missed my mother. When the fish was in my stomach, I ventured out of the damp cardboard box and started to walk the streets of Glory. Now that my stomach was full, exhaustion settled in just behind my eyes. Ever since my mother had died, I'd been a mild insomniatic, but it was taking all my strength to keep going. I estimated in my head that I'd been walking for at least a month.

To my left, a square of yellow light caused by the opening of the door of a large house, caught me by surprise. I jumped back, startled. I hadn't spoken in more than two weeks (ever since I'd given up talking to myself. I ran out of stories tell myself and just kept saying the same ones over and over again.), so I wasn't exactly sure what to say. A small croak escaped my mouth, but the frail old man in the door was niether menacing nor frightening.

"Come on. Out of the rain." He said simply, with a waving motion of his wrinkly hand. I was so upset, I hadn't even noticed it was raining.

That was how I met Sal. He was a bald, old man with bright, light blue eyes and a perfect teeth. It was strange. I'd never seen anyone that old with those teeth. Sal was obsessed with two things: vigorous tooth-brushing, and tumbling. He thought it unsuitable not to be flexible. So from him I got my straight, white teeth and flexibility. He loved alchemy, and when I showed him my books, I let him keep them. He treasured them.

Sal took me in, I could say. He was a gruff man; he always made me work hard and always made me brush my teeth and stretch. A house could've bent backward farther than me before he whipped me into shape. He kept me busy for two years, eight months, three weeks, and six days. (He also taught me to count the days I spent with the ones I loved, because I never knew how limited they were.) He may have seemed like a too-restricting parent, but he was in no way unlovable.

Sal died on the last day of my thirty second month. The dogs of the military- the devil's messengers themeselves- swooped in and destroyed the whole town, searching for Ishbalan (sp?) refugees. Sal was just an old man, and he'd been hoarding two families of them in the basement of our house. I'll never forget the man that wound up killing him- tall, with rugged dark hair, and fire exploding from his white gloves. He may have done it by accident- aiming for one of the Ishbalan's, but Sal jumped in the way- but I don't care. It was done.

A look of horror streaked the blue-coat's face as soon as Sal was on the floor, dying. I screamed, clapped my hands to the ground, and watched as the startled group hit the wall. "Go! Get out of here!" I screamed to the refugees. They ran out wordlessly, the women crying, the children screaming, the fathers trying to rush them on. Tears were in my eyes, but I blinked them back and turned, running from the burning house, down the street, through the gates... there, a baby lay on the ground. Without thinking, I grabbed it up and held it to my chest, then kept running.

The screams faded away the farther I ran, the smoke disappeared, the heat of the fire behind me. I was free of it all. I sank to my knees, then looked at the baby in my arms. Its little eyes were closed, it's chest still, no breathing, no twitching, no movement.

I opened my mouth and let out an earsplitting scream.

**Present Day**

"Al! Ed! What did you do?!" Teacher jumped in through the open door, a look of anger across her pale face.

"We didn't do anything! Honest!" Al cried, jumping up out of his chair and waving his hands in front of him.

Ed covered his ears. "Make her shut _up_!" The girl lay in Ed's bed, curled into a ball, screaming bloody murder.

Teacher shook her arm. "Wake up!" The girl stopped screaming, and shuddered.

"Wake up," Ed and Al started to shake her, too.

"If you can scream, you can open your eyes," Teacher ordered. **I'm too lazy to call him "the dark-haired boy" so I'm just going to call him Wrath, okay? :) **Wrath started to shake her, too.

"Huh?" Her eyelids fluttered, and she blinked slowly, twice. "Wha-?"

"Who are you?" Al asked.

"Give her some space!" Teacher yelled, Ed and Al cringed back in fear that she was about to beat them senseless (again), but she didn't do anything. Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed. "What's your name?"

The girl sat up. Her hair was white-blond, but it was dirty, with patches of mud in it. Her eyes were hazel; her face was bruised and dirty. She desperately needed a bath. "Kairi Al-Alkamime."

"How old are you, Kairi?"

"I'm thirteen."

"Where are your parents?"

"Dead." She said 'dead' the way someone might say 'fat.'

"What happened to you?" Teacher asked softly.

"I don't- I don't remember." Her eyes were big, but they shut tight and her brows creased in frustration. "I don't remember."

**Thank you! Review!**


	3. Talking To Wrath

**Sorry it's been so long. I feel bad. D: Forgive me?**

**The Ballet Alchemist- No, she didn't always live in Glory. She lived at her house (in the middle of nowhere, a very long way from Glory) until she stumbled across the city and met Sal.**

**Thanks to all reviewers! (The Ballet Alchemist/Squeaker Dee/Anonymous person/steel alchemist/Jasmine Hatake/XXBlackfireXX/FALLING-ANGEL24 this chapter is dedicated to all of you!!!) I really love reviews, like a lot, so ten reviews for two chapters means a lot to me. This is my most popular story and it's barely even started, haha. Anyway's, let the torture begin!**

"That's alright. It'll come back." Teacher smiled warmly, and the girl's hazel eyes shifted from confusion to relief.

That is, until she looked at Al, where her eyes widened with explicit fear and she fell scooted across the bed, away from him, and fell off on the other side. Scoot, scoot, scoot, then she hit the wall.

"I won't hurt you. Don't worry about me," Al raised his arms like a sign of surrender. Her heart was beating so quickly it was painful. She'd always been small, and the sight of someone so... _huge_ was more than she felt she could handle.

"You're going to need to take a nice warm bath and I'll clean up your wounds," Teacher knelt beside her, and Wrath peeked around her leg at Kairi.

"Hi," he said shyly.

She looked at him like he would attack at any second, but it only took a moment for her face to soften and a small smile crossed her dry, chapped lips. He smiled back. Ed sighed. No one spoke for three seconds before she turned to Teacher and whispered, "Where's the washroom?"

"_Ed_ will show you," Teacher said his name sharply, signaling not to argue because it might've upset Kairi.

"Sure I will, Teacher!" He smiled wide, his arms cross, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Kairi looked offended, and Al laughed lightly, it echoing inside of his "body."

"You'll need clothes," Teacher announced, standing up, taking her arm so she'd have no choice but to stand up, too.

"I have clothes. In my bag." Kairi responded, confused again. Her facial expressions weren't at all subtle, but she hadn't needed them to be for a long while.

"I left it there. _Ed_ will get it. It's by the pond."

"I'll come, too!" Al volunteered.

"Now go on, you two." Teacher ushered everyone out.

Kairi walked at a pace that was infuriating to Ed. How could someone walk as slow as an infant? Step, step, step.

_Oh, look. We're an eight of the friggin' way there._

She was walking toe-to-heel, her arms out to keep her balance. "What's your name?"

"Huh? What?" Ed turned, three yards ahead of her down the hall.

"What. Is. Your. Name." She looked at him slowly, like he couldn't understand.

"Edward."

She giggled. "Eddie."

"_No_." His voice was sharp. "Ed."

"Well, fine." She growled, and her voice cracked on the word "fine."

"Look, just take your bath in there," He pointed at the door.

"Jeez, stop being so grouchy. I don't like you much either." She huffed dryly and walked inside, closing and locking the door behind her.

Ed ran his hand through his blond hair. What a strange girl! Her hair was practically white and she behaved like a child. Her teeth were way too white and she didn't remember anything useful. She'd called him _Eddie_! Eddie!

He walked outside, his hands in his pockets, and started to jog down the road, just in case her bath ended sooner than he got back and Teacher would snap at him for making her wait in the tub.

The pond was serene, and it made him feel a bit less agitated. What was with these people, turning up out of nowhere and at the worst time. What was with Teacher, taking everyone under her wing. She was too motherly.

His frustration returned, and he picked up the tattered backpack. Peeking inside, he noticed the clothes were in a strangely good condition in contrast with the backpack. They looked almost new!

_What a wierd girl! The sooner she's gone, the better off we'll be._

**Three Hours Later**

Wrath heard the door of the washroom open, and she finally came out. Her white-blond hair was pin-straight now that it was brushed and all the dirt was washed out of it. She was wearing a pair of short black shorts and light blue sweatshirt, unzipped, over a black tanktop.

"Hi," he walked over to her. "Do you feel better?"

"A little bit," her hazel eyes were troubled. "I still don't remember much. I don't really like it here. I think I should leave."

"No, don't leave. I like you here." He said. They were nearly the same height (she'd always been short and thin, and her eating habits didn't help but any weight on her small body). He paused. "They said my name is Wrath."

"I'm Kairi. I like your name." She smiled at him.

"I don't like Ed that much," Wrath started to lead her down the hall. He'd decided she was the perfect candidate for a best friend. She didn't remember anything either, and she seemed a lot nicer than everyone except Teacher. "He's mean to me. He tried to attack me. He says I stole his arm and leg. But he has two arms and two legs. So I don't know why he's mad at me."

"Oh, okay," she laughed. He was much younger than her, but she liked his company a lot. She hadn't had much of it in so _long_. Ever since Sal. The thought of him made her realize she needed to stretch very badly. Her teeth felt clean for the first time in weeks (she'd borrowed _somebody's_ toothbrush). She sat on the couch with Wrath and turned to him, listening to him talk.

"Al's okay, though. He's not mean, but he's not too nice either. He agrees with everyone too much. It's like he doesn't have his own opinion. Teacher's husband is quiet. I don't talk to him that much. Teacher's the nicest one here, but she hits Ed and Al a lot. But I don't care, because I don't like them."

She laughed, "I don't know. Ed's kind of cute."

"Ew," Wrath laughed, too. She decided she liked him. He hadn't said anything rude, and although he was young he seemed like a sweet and good-natured child. Innocent, too. Like he'd never done anything wrong his whole life.

She was getting chills down her back then, and the hair on the back of her neck was rising. Someone was watching her. **Everyone knows that feeling, right? It's almost like everyone has their own sixth sense: they can **_**feel**_** when someone's watching them. Wierd, huh?** Kairi turned and saw Ed, his red coat missing, his hands in his pockets.

_Oh. My. God. He _heard_ me._

She could've died with embarrassment, but she didn't blush easily, thank God. "Hello." Her voice came out cold, and it was still scratchy.

What was going through Ed's head, you ask? Well he was thinking that she wasn't dazzling beautiful, or really pretty, even, but she definetely wasn't ugly. It was somewhere in between.

"Hello," his was in the same tone, except his voice sounded smoother than her's. Her throat had been aching, and she was losing her voice. "You might want to let Teacher clean the wound on your head."

She absent-mindedly reached up and touched the gash. It wasn't as bad as it had looked before, now that it was clean, but it wasn't pretty either. It would definetely scar.

"Nah, I'm okay." She looked away and noticed Wrath was attempting to hide behind the couch. He left the room for a moment, and returned with a wooden cup full of water.

"Drink it. Your voice is really bad."

"Jeezum, that helps my self-esteem." She took the water and sipped at it. She wished for tea. She hadn't had it for a little over a year, ever since she'd lost Sal (he'd been big on drinking tea, too). Of course, she didn't know how she knew she hadn't had it for over a year, she didn't know why she was having the unexplainable urges to stretch, brush her teeth for five minutes, drink tea, take care of herself. She didn't remember Sal, she didn't remember anything passed her father's death. She didn't understand what he'd been doing anymore, either. She didn't remember her alchemic studies.

"Whatever," he said gruffly, then turned toward the other half of the couch. "Come _out_, Wrath."

"Go _away_, Ed."

Ed shrugged, turned, and left.

"What's _his_ damage?" Kairi commented lightly, sipping her tea.

"Good question. I'll ask him later."

**Good enough for you? It just occurred to me how much I already love this story. It seems to be popular. I'm going to try and update more often. Thanks guys!**


	4. Definition of Serenity

**Due to extra time on my hands, and the loss of the chord which connects my Mp3 player (which has all my files on it) to the computer, I can only update this story for now. My other story, Confessions of Kiley Trace (Code: Lyoko fanfiction), will have to deal.**

**Caslari: Heyyyy, I LOVE Ed. (lol) I'm going to get into the personality. Remember, she lost all her memory, so she doesn't know WHO she is.**

**Sky-chan: THANK YOU, I knew I was calling her the wrong thing I just couldn't remember what he called her!!**

**I also got a LOT of positive responses to Wrath talking to Kairi. I just feel bad because everyone ignores him. V.V He's also sort of out of character, sorry, haha. Nobody's perfect.**

When Wrath left the room, Kiley jumped up, ran down the hallway, and closed Ed and Al's bedroom door behind her. **I'm adding a full-length mirror to their bedroom, okay?** She walked to the full-length mirror on the wall to her left, at the foot of Ed's bed. Pulling her right sweatshirt sleeve off, she turned around halfway, cringing her neck to look at the back of her arm, between the shoulder and the elbow.

She had to look at it again. **You don't really think she spent THREE hours in the tub the whole time, right?** There was a tattoo running down the back of her arm, fancy black writing that formed one word: "Serenity." Suddenly, pictures were flashing in front of her eyes, uncontrollable, bright colors that hurt her eyes and made her heart race. Walking, walking fast. Someone following her. Trying to get away. She knew him once, but he'd changed. Eyes like chips of moonlight, glaring. Death, dead, dying. Wishing, hoping. Now she's running. Run fast, run fast. No point in slowing down. She stops, he's practically on top of her. That's when his arm grabs her tattoo. The dark blue of everything because of the fading sky suddenly collapses, and night falls. She's dead now...

"Augh!" Kairi turns around, hitting something hard, hollow, and metal.

"Are you alright?" Al asked.

She pulled her sleeve back on. No point in letting him see her tattoo. They'd ask questions, and as of now, she didn't know the answers. "What? I'm fine."

"I don't think you should be in here," Al said. "Let's go outside."

"O-okay," she took a deep breath and followed Al. _What does it mean? Where did I get it from? Was that a memory? I should ask Teacher..._

"Do you remember anything new?" Al asked her.

She brushed a few strands of hair off her forehead. "Nope," the word came out easily. _Seems I'm a good liar. Might come in handy._

"What _do_ you remember?" _He's trying to be nice. Just wish he didn't seem so nosy._

"Not that much." That part wasn't a lie. "I remember up until I was eight, when my dad died. Right after those things took him away, and then nothing."

"What took him away?"

"I don't know what they were. I think I did at some point, but I don't remember it." _Change the subject._ They had reached the door and were walking outside. "Why are you in that armor thing anyway?"

Al looked down at her, as if he were going to answer, but they were outside by then and everyone was suddenly staring at them. She instantly hated it. A strange feeling she didn't recall well rose in her chest; it was like her whole life everyone had stared at her. She absent mindedly reached up and clutched her upper arm with her left hand. _Serenity_.

She didn't even know what the word meant. Everyone was silent. She glanced at Al, who looked at her expectantly, and had the gut feeling that he knew what was on her arm. _He must have seen it when I was in the mirror._

"Have you remembered anything, yet?" Teacher asked. Wrath was sitting in the chair next to her's, eyeing her expectantly.

"I- well- it was- sort of- I think-"

"What did you see?" Teacher patted the chair on her other side, inviting her to sit down. Her husband **What's his naaaaameee???** was nowhere to be seen, and Ed was sitting on the porch railing, his arms crossed.

"It was like I was running, and there was a boy following me, but he was about sixteen, and then he caught me, and... Al touched my arm and I didn't see anything else."

"I see," Teacher looked serious. "When did you last eat?"

"I don't remember." It suddenly occurred to her how hungry she was. Her stomach felt like it was devouring itself.

"I'm going inside to make some food. Why don't you talk with the boys while I make you something to eat?"

"Uh- okay." She felt unsure. The only one she was really comfortable with was Wrath. Teacher turned and left.

"So..." Al sat down in another lawn chair.

"You didn't answer my question," Kairi remarked hurriedly. "Why do you wear that armor?"

"Well, I-"

"It protects him," Ed jumped in.

"Ohh. I'm bored."

"Can we go for a walk?" Wrath pleaded, his dark eyes big and round.

"I don't know if Teacher will allow it," Al put a hand on the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"Live a little. I think I used to like excitement." The right side of Kairi's lips curled up into a half smile.

"Okay. Where do you want to go?" Wrath wanted to know.

"I don't know."

"Count me _out_," Ed put his hands up. "I'm going to write a letter."

"To _Winry_," Al teased and laughed.

Ed got that familiar, angry look on his face. "It's _just_ a letter! Leave me alone, Al."

"Alright, alright!"

"Who's Winry?" Kairi inquired.

They were silent for a moment. "She's Ed's _girlfriend_!" Al jumped up and down, pointing at Ed. There were practically flames bursting out of Ed's head.

Kairi smiled, a little flame of jealousy burning inside her chest. "Better go write to her," Kairi giggled. "Are you coming, Al?"

"I'd rather not risk teacher's anger." The two walked inside.

"Guess it's just me and you, then." She looked at Wrath, who seemed excited. "Where are we going?"

"I want to meet some people. Mommy doesn't let me out that often, and I want to meet people who'll play with me."

"Okay, let's go find some nice kids." They started walking down the street.

"I don't like it here. Well, I mean I would like it here, but Ed and Al won't leave." Wrath growled. "You can stay though. I like you here."

"I can't stay long." She reached up absent mindedly and touched the word on her arm.

"Why not?" Wrath looked up, disappointment in his eyes. "You don't like me and Mommy?"

"That's not it at all." They turned in the direction of the woods. "I just hate over-staying my welcome. I think I did it once and my feelings got hurt or something. I don't remember."

"Oh. You won't, though! I want you to stay!" He looked up at her. "If I tell you a secret, will you stay?"

"Probably not."

"Pleeeaaase?"

"I can't promise anything right now, Wrath."

"Okay." He looked at his feet. "I don't have a secret anyway." They both laughed as they reached the outskirts of town.

"I think we're going too far. Let's turn around." Kairi turned and started walking in the other direction. It took her a few minutes to realize Wrath wasn't following. "Hey! Come back here."

"You have to catch me first!" He ran into the woods.

_What is he doing?_

**Ohmigoshhh!! This IS my most popular story. I was looking at the stats, and this is what I got for my three most popular stories:**

**Run From the Past: 20 Chapters: 405 hits**

**Confessions of Kiley Trace: 7 Chapters: 434 hits**

**Story of My Life: 3 Chapters: 346 hits**

**It's got almost the same as the other two, but with less than half the chapters!!! Whoaa!**

**Thanks for the reviews; I love you guys and the reviews soooo much I just had to update. So do me a favor and review again, but I probably won't update this quickly for a while. Oh, and PLEASE answer the poll on my profile if you watch Degrassi.**


	5. A Day

**Tired of receiving death threats from Kiley's fans, I found my Mp3 player chord and updated. I haven't checked back for reviews on that, but I'm updating this because I'm bored and my grandma left (she's on the computer like all day playing solitaire) so yeahh. I've also got my baby cousin Alejandra for inspirtation, haha. AND GUESS WHAT!!! I was watching FMA on the TV (we have like one episode recorded "Al, Captured" and I watch it over and over) and I was watching it, and Teacher's husband's name is Sig!! I heard her call him that lol. And thanks to my nameless anonymous reviewer, who suggested that his name was either Sig or Sid. =] My author's notes are always lengthy, huh? o.O Maybe I should try and break that habit, haha. And as a reminder, the name is pronounced "k-eye-ree" because my friend always pronounces it wrong, and I just wanted to remind you guys.**

Kairi slowed her run to a steady, slow jog and looked around. Wrath had just been here a second ago; where could he have gone so fast?

There. Movement to her right. She started walking that direction, calling, "Wrath! Wrath, this isn't funny! Wrath?" Her head kept darting around on its own, she just couldn't seem to make it stop shifting around. Every single noise and darting creature was amplified. Her heart raced as she walked. She didn't like to be alone. She started running again. She slowed to a stop near a thicket of blackberry bushes. Nothing else was moving. It was quiet... almost _too_ quiet.

She didn't hear whistling birds, no crickets that were to accompany the setting sun, which had left the sky a blaze of oranges, yellows, and reds, no sounds of nature, no sounds at _all_. In fact, she realized she didn't hear anything, and her heart beat like that of a drum, her breathing quick, shallow gasps. Then she heard it; she had no memory of the picture that was supposed to accompany the voice, just the words rang in her ears: "Watch it. The woods have never liked you." Something about the voice confused her. She'd known the boy so well, but now she didn't even know his name or what he looked like. Where was he now?

_Where's Wrath_? Kairi was growing concerned. The darkness had fallen, and her stomach was just an empty hole in the middle of her body. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd last eaten, but her stomach was used to long periods without food.

That was when she heard an animal rustling through the woods; she didn't know it was an animal. She thought it was a particular young boy with big, dark eyes and raven hair. As she spun around, her leg twisted around, and she caught the lace of her shoe underneath her other foot. That was when she fell backwards, onto the blackberry bush. Grunting and suppressing a scream of pain, a thousand tiny pinpricks puntured her legs and stuck in her hair and in her back. She writhed in agony, closing her eyes and wrestling the bushes. **If you've ever fallen on top of a blackberry bush like me (haha funny story...) you'd know why she's in a lot of pain, lol.** She finally managed to drag her body away from the angry bushes, and she took off her blue sweatshirt, throwing it to the ground in frustration.

"Wrath! Wrath I want to go back!" The time had really gotten away from her. It was getting dark out. She started to pick a few thorns out of the back of it, then she slid it gingerly back on. "Wrath!" The last one echoed, and she felt completely and utterly alone.

_Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!_

Kairi jumped and gasped loudly, ripping another thorn out of her around, she saw the large suit of armor that Al was "inside of."

"Al?" Her voice cracked. _Why has my throat been so dry? I keep getting thirsty._

"Brother, I found her!"

Ed appeared a distance to her left. "Good at getting lost, aren't you?" He said it jokingly, but it still hurt. "What happened to your leg?" She looked down. Blood was oozing out of a cut from the bush. When she'd jerked she must've actually gone _into_ the bush, and one of the thorns created a shallow, three inch long cut.

"I fell." She was suddenly in a bad mood. "Where's Wrath?"

"He's at the house. He couldn't find you and he went home to Teacher. She made _us_ come and get you," Ed remarked. He turned to her and smiled. "Not that it's such a bad thing."

"Yeahh..." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. _I think I was a snappy and bitter person at some point. Maybe if I hit my head I'll remember more things about me. _She frowned and looked at the ground, her hands in her pockets. _I just hate not knowing who I was._

After a moment of awkward silence, Al asked, "Have you remembered anything new?" _He's just trying to break the silence._

"No." She'd lied again. _Why am I so secretive? Why is it _this_ easy to lie? Why would I have needed to lie?_ She was frustrated. There was so much she didn't know!

"Nothing at all? Teacher said that you should remember at least a few things today," Ed glanced at her. He and Al were walking together on the right side of the path, but she was a few steps ahead, on the far left. _Was it always like this? Was I really all alone. Alone since I was eight? No one was ever there for me._

_No._

The simple word rang in her ears. A part of her brain was trying to tell her what she'd forgotten, but it couldn't get her the whole message. Her eyes almost watered, but she blinked back the tears. _Why can't I just remember?_

"Kairi!" She gasped and her head shot to the right. Ed and Al both struck defensive poses, and a boy stepped out onto the path. He was much taller than her, about six inches taller than Ed himself, but the boy didn't look threatening. He looked disbelieving.

"Who are you?" Kairi tried not to let her desperation show in her voice. Throughout the last couple of minutes she'd realized how much she wanted to know who she was. Was she always this desperate a person? She had a feeling not. "How do you know me?"

"How do you know her?" Ed echoed, but his voice was a bit more threatening.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" He didn't look happy, just disbelieving.

"Who _are_ you?" Kairi demanded. She took a step toward him. He didn't look at all familiar.

"You didn't know me. Travis is _so_ sorry. He's been so miserable. He doesn't even know why he did that. You've _got_ to forgive him. He misses you _so_ much!"

"I don't remember this Travis." Kairi took a few tentative steps forward, and Ed moved out of the way.

"Who are _you_, then?" Al asked.

"What?" He looked at Kairi, as if expecting her to clear everything up. "I'm Kayle. Travis's friend. Remember, Travis?" She stared at him blankly. "It's only been a few months, Kairi, he'll be crushed if you've already forgotten him."

"I don't remember anything," Kairi looked at the ground. "I got hurt and I don't remember it." She touched the scab above her eyebrow. Kayle couldn't see it; it was fully dark by then.

"But- what-" He looked at her. Just seeing her again was apparently something he'd never expected. He took a giant, unexpected step forward, grabbed her roughly by the right arm, and jerked her sweatshirt sleeve off, displaying her tattoo. "You don't remember _this_?"

"Get off of me!" The words were louder than she'd meant them to come out. He held on to her upper arm and stared at her.

"This cannot be happening."

"Let go!" She shoved him off roughly, scrabbling to cover her tattoo. There'd be no avoiding questions now. _Thanks a lot, Kaaaaayle._

Ed and Al stepped in front of her. _Oh. How sweet._ The thought was bitter, but she hadn't intended it to be.

"No, I got to bring you back. Travis will be so excited. He missed you since you ran off." He tried reaching over Ed's shoulder, but Ed shoved him backward. "Kairi, come on! You have to come back with me!"

"I'm not going _anywhere_ with you," Kairi stepped back and started walking away. Ed and Al turned and followed. Kayle didn't move. He just stared after them.

When they were nearly to Teacher's house, Ed whipped around. "Why haven't you been saying anything?"

"About _what?_" She asked incredulously.

"Your _tattoo_. Not a lot of people have those at your age."

"Because I- I didn't- know about it." She was too upset to lie properly.

"God- just-" Ed was angry, she could tell by his stuttering. "Take it up with Teacher."

"Izumi is _not_ my mother." She snapped the words, but she didn't mean to. _Who was he? Why can't I remember anything? What's _wrong_ with me?_ She wasn't really angry at anyone except for herself. _I'm not going to be here long. I don't know how Wrath can stand it, but these are not my people._

"Look," Al stated as the Teacher's house came into sight. "Why don't we all just calm down? Teacher will already be worried and we don't want to upset her more."

"_You_ just don't want her to hit you," Ed scoffed.

They started up the porch steps. Teacher was inside, a disapproving glare apparent on her face. "What were you thinking?" She used that stern mother voice.

"I was looking for Wrath." Kairi tried to melt into the carpet. Sig was sitting on the sofa, with Wrath next to him. She reached up a hand and rested it on the tattoo. _It was a habit._ She realized. "I'm sorry."

"Show her." Ed elbowed her.

"I'm tired," Kairi announced.

"There's a bed made up for you in Wrath's bedroom. It's right next to the washroom." Kairi retreated immediately down the hall. _I'll just have to deal with Ed later._

She tried to slip into the room quietly, but Wrath was still awake, with an apology rehearsed. "I'm sorry! I tried to stay in your sight but you got lost and I couldn't find you and I went home and Mommy got mad and-" He stopped when she hugged him.

"It's okay." She smiled, waled to the opposite side of the room, and lay in the bed with her clothes on.

"Kairi?"

"Huh?"

"When are you leaving."

"Soon."

"But not _too_ soon, right?"

She pretended to have fallen asleep, and he left her alone.

But think about one thing... all this happened in a day, and it's been a year since Sal died. So, dearest readers, if so much could happen in a day, how much could've possible happened in a year?

**Ughh this chapter suckkkked butt!! lol!!! review and tell me how bad it sucked!! haha!!**


	6. I Advise You Quit Stalking Me

**ughh I slaved over the latest chapter of Confessions of Kiley Trace with my "loyal" (and slightly threatening) reviewers hounding me- I post it... and no one even read it!! XD wtf? lol!! Anyway It's 6:38 AM and I didn't go to sleep last night, so I'm a little tired. Coffee's brewing, so I thought I'd do a little typing. =] And I feel the need to say something I didn't say earlier. Kairi's last name is pronounced "al-kay-mime" lol.**

_Perfect teeth. She stared up at his shining white smile. He held her in a warm, fatherly embrace. _He adored me_._

_Change now. The happy atmosphere fades, and suddenly all she sees is a gathering darkness. Growing quiet. She's running. Not really running, it's more of a quick jog. One foot in front of the other. He's behind her. _He'll hurt me.

_It's changing again. She can't run now; her legs are in slow motion. She's in the water. It's cold and she doesn't want to be there. Someone's fingers brush her arm, and she hears a voice say, "Kairi." The girl giggles. Her skin glows, her dark curls are plastered to her perfect face. _She's gorgeous._ She whispers, "Can't you swim?" She feels her head shake, turns toward shore, and sees him. Same hair, same eyes. _Kayle! Kayle, what are you doing here?_ But she couldn't talk. She couldn't change her memories. Her mouth wouldn't work. She was a prisoner within her own body. He glares. She looks next to him, at a boy with long, shaggy blond hair and eyes of the brightest blue, like he'd taken little peices of the moon instead of a normal eye color. _Travis?_ She wonders, and suddenly it changes._

_She's walking away. Walking, dirt crunching beneath her bare feet, her shoulders baked by the sun._

_"Watch it," he calls. "The woods have never liked you."_

_"Is that a threat?" She masks the note of fear with a bitter tone. _When's he going to kill me? _He starts walking toward her, his body language more than threatening, and she prepares for his arrival..._

Kairi woke up, gasping, her throat aching and dry, at six o'clock the next morning; everyone else remained asleep. Careful not to wake Wrath, she gently stood up, the floorboard creaking slightly beneath her shoes (she'd forgotten to take them off the night before) and started to stretch. It felt so _good_ and natural. _Who taught me that? Was it the man from my memory? The one with the white teeth? Who _was_ he? What's _wrong_ with me?_ She sighed and stood up. Her feet hurt from sleeping with her shoes on. She'd need new clothing, but she wasn't about to ask Teacher for anything. She stood up and looked out the window, and the setting sun flashed in front of her eyes, momentarily blinding her.

_"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you just 'cuz' your family was a bunch of psychotic idiots?"_

_"Why won't you just leave me alone?_

_"Because I told you I loved you and all you could do was cry to me about your poor, deluded parents!"_

Kairi sank to her knees, gripping the hair just above each of her ears. The voices... they were so _loud_. One of them was her's. But who was the other boy? The one she was fighting with? _What's happening to me?_ It was like before, in the woods, when she'd remembered what that boy had said to her. Just the sound, no words, like when you were listening to someone speak but you weren't watching them.

_"Well I'm so sorry I wasn't born with your perfect little life!"_

"Cut the crap_, Kairi! I said I _love_ you, wasn't that supposed to mean _something_ to you? Cuz a lot of girls would kill to hear me say that to them!"_

_"What was I supposed to do? Say it and not mean it?"_

_"That might've made me feel a little better! It was my birthday! Couldn't you have just lied, like you do _so_ well?"_

_"I don't toy with people's emotions, that's why!"_

They were so loud! Her ears were ringing. It was like having someone play a high note on an electric guitar with your ear pressed against the amp.

_"You- you just shut up! Shut _up_, Kairi! If it weren't for me you'd still be walking! Probably for the rest of your life!"_

_"Yeah? Well, it's better than being here with _you_! I never said my parents were psychotic idiots. Maybe _you_ are."_ There was a pause. _"Let me _go_! Let go of me!"_

Then her own high-pitched scream filled her covered them with her hands, but it's hard to block out a sound that's coming from inside your own head. She took one hand and slapped herself across the cheek, loud enough to almost wake Wrath but also hard enough to stop her own scream.

She stood up then, frustrated, and walked out of the room. Teacher had food on the table. By that time she was so hungry she would've eaten Wrath without questions, and when Teachers gently said, "Eat" she didn't need a second invitation. She only ate a plate, and then she felt fine. _I hate food._ She realized.

"Do you want me to call you Teacher or Izumi?" Kairi looked up at her, her hazel eyes bright and her aching throat feeling blistered. She was starting to lose her voice.

"Izumi is fine, since I'm not really your teacher." She offered that classic, motherly smile. **I love that smile. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. =]**

"Okay. Well, Izumi, I haven't been totally honest with you." She took off her sweatshirt sleeve, noting that, thanks to the blackberry bushes, the sweatshirt was already torn and dirty.

Teacher's eyes widened a little when she saw it, then she sat down at the table, her pretty face in her delicate hands, and she looked warmly at Kairi. "Do you know what the word 'serenity' itself actually means?"

"No," she replied honestly.

"It means 'a state of tranquility, or peace.'"

"So what does it mean? Why would I have had it tattooed to my _arm_?"

"It could be that you were in a state where you were incredibly happy and at peace and you wanted everyone that saw you to know that, or maybe you were the exact opposite: miserable and angry. And you wanted serenity, so you had it put there, hoping it would bring more happiness to your life."

_She's so forgiving. Is this why Wrath loves her so much?_ "There's something else, too."

"What else?"

"When I told you I remember everything up until I was around eight, it wasn't true. Because, I do remember I had a good memory, and peices of my childhood are still missing. And it just scares the _crap_ out of me." Her fading voice cracked and she blinked back tears, her left hand finding its way to the tattoo on her arm. "Like maybe I'm this thing that shouldn't be here, like I was never born or I was never supposed to exist. I learned about it with someone. I don't remember who. And that's what upsets me, too. Because I'm afraid that I'm this- this _thing_ and I don't even know what it is."

Teacher leaned back in her chair and studied her seriously. "Kairi, I can almost definetely and completely assure you that you are _not_ a humonculus."

Kairi blinked. _Sal. Sal. Sal._ Every thing she remembered about the lovely, elderly man came back to her then. "Sal! It was Sal! He's the one that made me brush my teeth and drink tea and be flexible!" She leaned back and stared hard at her empty plate. "Now I remember. He taught me about alchemy. He told me I could do _something_ I shouldn't be able to do. That's what was scaring me."

"What was it?" Teacher got up and poured a glass of water. Even she was noticing the soreness in Kairi's voice.

"I don't know. I can't remember that part. It's still a little iffy." She paused to take a sip of water. The cool liquid ran down her throat. "But he's dead. I know he is. I don't even remember him, and I miss him _so_ much."

"It's understandable. I have a feeling he meant something to you."

Wrath appeared in the kitched doorway, yawning. "I'm hungry."

"Breakfast is ready. Ed and Al won't be up for a while." **I'm fairly certain that Al doesn't sleep, lol, but he's waiting for Ed to get up, kk?**

"Izumi?" Kairi's pride was going to be hurt, but she had to ask. "Could I borrow some money? I kind of tore up my clothes yesterday and I need to buy some new ones. I'll pay you back- with- with interest, if I can, but-"

"How did you tear up your clothes?" Teacher raised an eyebrow while she was shoveling bacon and eggs on to Wrath's plate.

She looked at the floor. "I fell on top of a blackberry bush." She ran a hand through her white-blond hair. _I have my mother's hair, my father's eyes._ She suddenly remembered.

"Oh, ouch!" Wrath squeaked. He dug into his breakfast.

"You don't owe me anything, Kairi," Teacher smile that same, beautiful smile and took a small wad of cash out of her dress pocket. "Is this enough."

"More so. Thank you, Izumi." Kairi smiled. _I am sooo paying her back anyway._

Ed and Al appeared in the doorway, ready to eat (Ed was, anyway). Ed started to make his own plate, and Al sat at the table.

"Thanks, again. I'll just be a little while. It won't take long. I'm not picky." She kissed Teacher's cheek and ran out the door, her long hair behind her. While she was walking up the street she suddenly remembered cutting it herself. She had just been walking, and she was so sick of it always getting in her face, she took the bangs in the front, and sliced all the way down them at an angle. Her hair was now parted to the side, but she let it grow long.

There was a store up ahead. She'd sort of halfway lied to Teacher before- she wasn't totally picky, but she didn't like to wear something that made her look stupid. Her brain was telling her she liked practical clothing, things she could move around in. She went up to the rack and selected a pair of black short shorts immediately. They were one of the things she'd always worn. A black belt with them, and a light blue tanktop. No point in hiding the tattoo now. She still felt this little feeling of wonder in the back of her mind. What could 'serenity' possibly mean? She grabbed a black hoodie in case it got cold and a pair of black skater shoes.

_The blue hoodie was a gift. But who gave it to me?_ A girl flashed through her mind. That absolutely stunning, impossibly beautiful girl she'd seen in her sort of memory/dream she'd had the night before. _It was her. She meant so much to me once and now I don't even remember her name._

She grabbed a pair of spandex shorts and a black spaghetti strap for bed. The money Teacher has given her was just enough to pay for it. She left the store with a bag in her hand and started walking slowly up the street. _Small towns are so nice. The kind of place where no one has to lock their doors because everyone can trust each other._ A hand clamped over her mouth out of nowhere, and she tried to cry out, but she was dragged roughly into an alley and held against the wall. _Him again?_ She bit his hand.

"Augh!!" He jumped back. **I love it when people make that sound lol.**

"Kayle! What the hell was that?"

"Kairi, you've gotta come back. Travis is sorry for what happened, and-"

"Not this again." He had her pressed against the wall, and she pushed him off of her. "Listen, Kayle, I'm really not in the mood to run away from everything right now."

"You didn't have a problem with doing that before." He looked at her, as if expecting a look of guilt to cross her face.

"I _can't_ go anywhere with you. If I left it was for a reason. I only remember like two things about this Travis guy and I'm pretty sure he wasn't the nice, sweet boy you make him out to be." She tried to side-step out of the alley, but Kayle blocked the way.

"He loves you."

"Well, that's cool."

"You were his girlfriend, and you left him."

"Don't remember. And if he's your _bestest_ friend he's got to be about your age, and what _are_ you, like forty? This guy's much too old for me." With a sweet smile, she tried to push past him, but he stepped in the way again.

"I'm fifteen, almost sixteen, and he's fourteen. You're thirteen."

"Well, awesome."

"Just come back. You'll remember."

"Not going."

"Why _not_?"

"A, I'm having an episode of amnesia, in case you hadn't noticed, B, I'm not going to run off with some guy I technically hardly know, and C, I have a boyfriend."

"What? Who?" Kayle looked like he'd been punched.

"Uhm, that blond guy that was with me yesterday. Ed. He's my boyfriend." _That one's gonna come back and bite me in the-_

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to the house in which I reside currently, back to my new friends, my new boyfriend, and I advise you quit stalking me." She darted around him unexpectedly, skidded on her heels, and ran all the way down the street, the shopping bag bumping against her thigh and Kayle's eyes burning a hole into her back.

**THAT was a long chapter. For pictures, I'm putting up a link in my profile to a photobucket account specifically for pictures involving Story Of My Life. Thanks for reading and- hopefully- reviewing. =]**


	7. Planning Of What Comes Ahead

**Mkayy I just updated and I'm bored so I'm going to write a new chapter anyway. =] Probably wont finish it and I wont upload it for a while. not until i give everyone a chance to review. be sure to check out the photobucket. will help with visualization. Also, this chappie is dedicated to DarkAngelDreams13 for being the first to review the last chapter! Thanks. =]**

**kk im writing this later. nobodys reviewing and i want to get on the next chapter because im having a lot extra time on my hands, so im putting this chap up even though i only have ONE review. where did everyone go?**

On the way to her temperary home, Kairi recalled two things about the beautiful girl who'd given her the blue sweatshirt. One: her name was Audrey. (She didn't have a last name.) Two: she was Kairi's first and best friend in the entire world.

Kairi's eyes almost filled with tears when she realized how much she'd lost when she left Audrey. She still didn't know why she left, which frustrated her, but she had faith that she'd remember eventually.

When she reached the house, she thanked Teacher once again for her extreme generosity, then went into the bathroom to get changed. She was embarrassed to look in the mirror first thing and realize her hair was a disaster. She slipped into the shorts and a pair of black socks, then pulled the tanktop over her head. It was warm and sunny so she left the sweatshirt in the bag along with her new pajama-wear, then combed her hair. Not wanting to deal with it that day since she was already overly-stressed (coughkaylecough) she brushed it back into a mid-height ponytail and let her bangs fall loose. She normally wore her hair down except for when she was overly flustered.

Finally, she took an eyeliner out of her old bag and traced her eyes with it. She didn't think she looked right without it. After that she picked up her things, exited the washroom, and walked into Wrath's room. She could hear Al talking to him outside. _I guess they're becoming friends._ She shoved her dirty clothing under one side of the bed and kept the new things and her eyeliner in the bag, under the other side of the bed. Then she made the bed out of guilt. _This isn't my house. I should be more respectful._

She turned around to leave the room to find herself staring up into the eyes of Edward Elrick himself. **=]**

"Oh, hello, Edward." She tried to look natural. _He's gonna be soooo mad. I can't _believe_ I told Kayle he's my boyrfriend. I barely know him!_

"You're upset. Why are you upset?" Edward looked down at her. She was about the same height as Wrath, which left her about four inches shorter than him. It was actually very easy to compare because they were standing awfully clothes. Luckily, she didn't blush easily.

"I'm not upset," she forced a smile.

"Don't lie." He took a step toward her. "I told Teacher all about this Kayle thing yesterday and she told me I have to watch you so you don't run off on us."

"Oh." She tried to keep from laughing. "So you should definately know that I spoke to him today."

"When?" He frowned. _She's not ugly, but she's not pretty. Definetely not ugly though. And she seems pretty sweet._

"Today, on my way back from the store." She sat on the bed and patted the spot beside her, inviting him to sit down. _He could very easily become a nice friend. I guess. But his "little" brother kind of creeps me out._ "He grabbed me and dragged me into the alley."

"He didn't- touch you- or-" Ed turned red with embarrassment.

"No, no, of course not." _That is the sweetest thing I remember ever seeing a guy do._ "He just told me I had to come back to him. Apparently I left a group of people somewhere, and it has to be nearby, because he went back and talked to Travis-what's-his-face last night and then came back this morning. He's been watching me. That's how he knew where I was going and where to grab me at."

"What a creep," Ed commented. "What's with this Travis guy, anyway?"

"Well, haha, that's when the story gets funny," she laughed nervously. "He told me I had to go back because apparently Travis was his best friend and my boyfriend and Travis was all in love with me or whatever and then _I_ said that I already had a boyfriend and I kind of sort of in a way told him that you're my boyfriend."

"Uh- well, err okay. I guess that could work to our advantage or something."

There was a long, awkward pause. _Why did I do this to myself?_

"So..." She paused. "Something else, oh mighty awesome protector-man." She giggled. "I remembered something else."

"What was it?"

"I had a best friend. Not sure if that should be in past tense or not, but her name was Audrey."

"Okay. Well, we should go outside now."

"Yeah." She followed him out of the room. _He is so cute._

Wrath ran up to her as soon as they exited the room. "Go away, Ed. It's my turn with Kairi."

"She's all your's, kid. Just don't go on any more field trips."

Wrath rolled his eyes and took her hand, leading her out to the front. "He and Al are always play fighting outside. No one ever wants to play with me."

"You have Izumi."

"She's busy. All the kids in the neighborhood always come to her when they break their dumb toys."

"Awwww. Laaaaame."

"Yahh." They both laughed. _I think I'm beginning to adore this little kid._ Then his voice grew serious. "Are you leaving today?"

"No. Not today."

"Soon?"

"Probably." They sat down on the front lawn together.

"But where will you go?"

"I think I might go to a place I used to be. But I'm not sure."

"What place did you used to be?"

"I don't know where it is."

"Then how will you get there?"

"I know a boy. He's kind of crazy. But he'll show me." She laughed softly.

"But he'll like you. You're pretty."

"I am _not_." She scoffed and playfully pushed his shoulder.

"You are, too! You're prettier than that girl _Winry_."

"I very much doubt that." **I'm not trying to make my character conceited. I've said twice in here she's NOT pretty, lol. She's just not completely ugly. This is Wrath trying to be a sweet little kid. =] And Winry is very much more gorgeous than Kairi lol.**

"You are. Ed likes her." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "But he likes you, too."

"What? Where'd you hear _that_?"

"I listen to them at night sometimes." Wrath covered his mouth and laughed. "He talks to Al a lot."

"I figured as much."

"You're trying to change the subject. You're _not_ leaving."

"I have to eventually, Wrath. I'll try not to go too soon, though."

"Okay, but you might not want to leave me and Mommy after Ed and Al leave. I bet it's gonna be a lot better."

"Why do you dislike them _sooo_ much?"

"Be_cause_ Ed's _mean_ to me and Al agrees with everything Ed says."

"Let's go in the house." Kairi jumped up and started walking toward the door.

"Why?"

"Remember that crazy boy I told you about?" She replied through gritted teeth. "He's here and he wants to take me away. So we're going to go and hide inside of the house now."

Wrath gasped, ran forward, grabbed her hand, and dragged her inside. She turned around and saw Kayle trudging up the lawn. "Kairi, just hear me out, okay? I just want to ask you something!"

She turned around. "Go get Ed. Tell him Kairi wants him to come out front. It's an emergency."

"Okay." Wrath ran through the house. Kairi closed the door gently behind her.

"Uh- hi?" She said it like a question instead of a greeting.

"Kairi," he smiled. "He just wants to see you. Everyone does. We all miss you _so_ much. Especially Travis. Audrey, too. She _cries_, Kairi. Just come back. You don't even have to stay."

"Look," Kairi breathed, walking to the bottom step. She could hear Ed coming down the hallway. "I'm _going_ to come with you. But not _now._ I'm going to go wherever all these people that supposedly know me are. _Eventually._ I can't just up and leave. Stop hanging around all the time. When I'm going, I'll let you know. But you need to _leave me alone._ And tell Travis I _have_ a new boyfriend. I am not even remotely interested in him."

Ed was standing on the porch, staring down at them. She knew this because of the small flicker of worry in Kayle's eyes. "Alright, I'm leaving." He started walking backwards down the laws. _Please, just trip and fall. Make my day._ When she got to the top of the steps, Ed put his arm around her for show and they walked inside. After the door was closed he removed his arm from her shoulders and she was mortified to find that she was blushing.

"Well, he should go away for a little while. Maybe Teacher will get off my back now."

"Yeah, maybe." She suddenly felt completely numb all over.

_"He can't do that to you!" Audrey cried. "You've gotta _go_."_

_"I don't think I can do it. What if he caught me?" Audrey ices her arm. It was swollen and purple; twisted heartlessly._

_"This is a run or die situation. We've been through this before. If I could do it, so could you. You're a smart girl. You'll get away."  
_

_"But what about you?"_

_"Kayle won't let him touch me. He doesn't give a crap about you, though."_

_"But I can't just leave you!"_

_"Yes you can and you are."_

Kairi shook her head hard. Ed had walked off. She sighed. _I think I need to leave soon and confront this Travis._

She shook her head to clear it, then went to get a drink of water. Her throat was still sore.

**Wow, I like posted the last chapter like twenty minutes ago and this one's already done, haha. Better hope you guys review, or the longer it'll take this chap to go up. =] I've resolved to not post this until I have three reviews. I'm also running out of ideas and I want to keep her at Izumi's at least until chapter ten, so here are your options:**

**  
A) Suggest something fluffy to happen between Ed and Kairi**

**B) Suggest ways for Wrath to get Kairi into trouble**

**C) Suggest something else to happen**

**All suggestions will help lol. Please? Like even if they're dumb suggestions cuz those give me inspiration too haha.**


	8. Anywhere I Lay My Head

**My interweb is officially DEAD. Like if it came back to life right now, it'd have brain damage from being dead so long. So I'm not sure when I can post this. XD So I can't look at all the nice people's ideas and I'm going to have to go this alone. Thanks to any and all reviewers. =]**

"Kairi?" Wrath's head been under the covers, but his eyes poked out from under the quilt. "Are you crazy?"

Kairi turned around. Her forehead was cold and damp from pressing it against the window, which was glazed with a thin layer of icy frost. "What? No?"

Wrath glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "It's 2 AM. You are staring out the window."

"It's raining. I love the rain." She laughed quietly. "Come see."

His feet touched the cool floorboards and he walked to the other side. They both rested their foreheads on the glass. It was dark outside, but the moon cast a soft- yet somewhat eerie- glow on everything, even behind the clouds. The rain pattered down gently, and everything was gray.

"It's pretty." He paused. "Ed has a _huge_ forehead. It's like a fivehead."

"Where'd _that_ come from?"

"I don't know, but my forehead's cold." He took his right index finger and drew a smiley face in the frost.

"Don't draw on the window, silly. It'll smudge."

"Mommy won't care."

She scoffed.

"Is your hair curly when it's wet?"

"What? No," she giggled. "It never curls, no matter what."

"My hair doesn't. I don't like curls anyway." He loved the way she actually answered his questions instead of ignoring them. (CoughEdCough.) He scowled and smiled evilly at his translucent reflection. "I bet Ed's hair would be curly if he ever took it out of his stupid braid."

"I _like_ his braid," she retorted, turning to him. "It's adorable."

"They were quiet for a minute. "I _know_ you liiiiiiiike him." Wrath grinned widely. "You're just _sooooo_ obvious."

She blushed, which was infuriating, because she hardly ever did, and she knew it. Scoffing, she pushed him playfully on the shoulder. "Okay. I do. But just a little."

"Ewie! _Why_?"

"I don't know," she turned around and leaned against the wall next to the window. "It's just... the way he is."

"The way he _is_? You mean you like him because he's evil, ugly, scary..."

"That's not very nice!" She pretended to be horrified.

"Don't care." He danced across the floor and back into bed.

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, took a sharp left, and went to open the bathroom door. Just before she reached the doorknob, it swung open, and Sig stood in front of jumped back, squeaked, "Hi?" and Sig grunted before he clomped away. She'd never said a word to him, but he really creeped her out. She hated being near people so much bigger than her, but the only person who was near her size was Wrath. She had a feeling she'd once known someone her size, but she didn't know who. With a sigh, she turned and entered the bathroom.

She lay awake in her bed for another hour. She wasn't going to tell Wrath that the reason she couldn't sleep was because of something Kayle had told her. _"_

**That morning...**

_"Aghh! Stop it! Stop! I can't breathe!" She squealed loudly; she squirmed, trying to get away, and rolled over. "Stop- tickling- me!"_

_He stopped tickling her and rolled onto the grass next to her. _This is him_, she thought._ I miss this. The way he used to be.

_"You used to love being tickled!" He commented._

_"Yeah, _right_. When exactly did I tell you I love being tickled?" She looked up at the sky incredulously, the grass rubbing against the back. She was allergic to the grass, but didn't want to move. She finally could take it anymore, so she rolled over onto her stomach and started picking at the petals of a yellow daisy._

"Kairi? Why are you smiling?" Wrath went to touch her arm, but thought better of it. "You're remembering something?"

She was smiling, and her eyes were looking at him, but they didn't seem to _see_ him. They were watching something else. Her fingers were playing with the edge of her side bangs. Her lips- which were still a little chapped- were curved into a small smile.

_"It's my birthday," he stated, hand on his stomach, fingers interlaced. His bluer-than-blue eyes stared up at the sky. She noted that they were bluer than the sky itself._

_"Happy birthday," she whispered, tossing the stem of the now petal-less daisy._

_They were silent for a moment. Then he spoke. "So, I love you. Sort of... in a way."_

"What?" Kairi practicially jumped a foot in the air.

"I didn't do it!" Al jumped back, too.

"Augh." She didn't bother putting any emotion into it.

"_Aaaal_, you did it _again_!" Wrath looked exasperated. "Every time she remembers something, you mess it up."

"He does not," she laughed delicately. Her hand found its way to the tattoo on her arm. "I'm thirsty. I need a bath. I'm going to go now." She got up and hurried from the room, rolling her eyes when she heard Wrath and Al squabbling as soon as she left the room. She could hear Ed talking to Teacher in the dining room. Something about he and Al wanting to get on the road. She felt a small pang when she heard that, but she turned and entered the washroom.

**With Ed and Teacher**

"Well, where would you want to go?" Teacher asked him, setting up the plates on the table and turning around to grab a pan filled with eggs on the table.

"We were thinking about heading up to central and then sort of just walking around aimlessly," Ed joked.

"I'm not exactly holding you prisoner, Ed. You can go whenever you want."

"I wasn't saying that-"

"Drink your milk or you'll be short forever," Teacher handed him a glass of milk.

Fuming, he waited until she turned around and dumped it into Wrath's cup. Al came into the room so he could sit in a chair like usual and watch everyone eat, with Wrath close behind him, looking triumphant.

"It's official! We're leaving in a couple of days, Al!" Ed grinned at his brother. This one-horse town was relaxing for a couple of weeks, but after that it became so boring Ed could've grown a foot waiting for something to happen.

"Okay, brother," Al's metal head glanced up, then returned to his hands, which were folded in his lap.

"You're leaving? But I'll _miss_ you," Wrath looked at him, not at all remorsefully, and Ed rolled his eyes.

"Where's Kairi?" Teacher asked.

"She said she needed a bath. She should be out soon."

**Anywho...**

What could it have been from? Kayle had known; she shut her eyes and remembered him grabbing her arm. _You don't remember this?_ She wanted so desperately to know who she was. Maybe the people in her memories could tell her? She sighed. It would mean she had to go soon. She didn't really want to leave, mostly because she was drawn to Edward.

_He's leaving anyway_, a little voice in the back of her head nagged. _You might as well go. Don't get so attached. He'd never think of you that way, no matter what Wrath claims he's heard._

She wiped the mirror down with a towel and inspected her face. She picked up her eyeliner and traced her eyes with it. _Where did I get this eyeliner?_ She wondered. _It's a little strange that I have eyeliner when I looked like I'd just been jumped when Izumi found me. So where did it come from? Why did I have it?_

She hated the unanswered questions.

_Crash!_ The toothbrush holder clattered to the ground, breaking into three solid pieces and two smaller ones. _I'm such an idiot!_ Her left hand found its way to her tattoo. Frustrated, she got to her knees to pick up the pieces. _Don't do that._ A voice in her head was saying. _Use alchemy._ She looked at her hands. _Alchemy?_ Then she clapped her hands together and touched them to the floor next to the glass pieces. A bright flash of a light blue electricity-like substance flashed from her hands, her hazel eyes wide with suprise. When the electricity dissipated, the shattered bathroom ornament pieces were back together, as if they'd never been broken.

She couldn't help but gasp as she remembered everything she'd learned about alchemy with Sal, the gentle old man she'd once loved. _No Transmutation Circle?_ She stared down at her hands, then looked at the toothbrush holder. _I shouldn't be able to do that. Something's wrong with me._ She closed her eyes and picked it up. _Should I tell Izumi? Probably. But I don't know. I should. I should._ She picked it up and emptied the toothbrushes into the sink, then walked out of the bathroom and into the dining room.

"I already made your plate, Kairi. Is there too much food on it?"

"Watch." She dropped the brown glass ornament to the ground, and it shattered.

"Whadja do that for?" Ed asked through a mouthful of food.

"But watch!" She got to her knees, clapped her hands together, and touched the floor. It returned to its original state. Teacher stared at her for a moment, then picked up the toothbrush holder, inspecting it. "I don't use a Transmutation Circle. Why?"

"I don't know," Teacher lied, then turned and walked from the room.

**That Night...**

She covered her ears. They were such ugly, ugly sounds. But it's so hard to fight a sound that's inside your own head.

She rolled over, accidentally fell off the bed, and writhed on the floor. Screaming, yelping, agony. There was so much pain. She was begging, and begging, but nobody heard her. Falling. She didn't move.

Kairi jumped up, ran into the bathroom, leaned over the toilet, and heaved.**I know they probably don't have toilets, but they're just so much more romantic than bedpans. XD** Someone had followed her in, because the light flicked on and someone pulled her hair back away from her throat. She coughed and spit up more pink vomit. She could see Al out of the corner of her eye, standing in the doorway.

"Should I get Teacher?" He whispered.

"No, she's fine. She's just a little sick, that's all." It was Ed's voice from behind her. **How romantic!!! XD** Her body racked once and she choked out the last of her stomach contents. She reached up and grabbed at the roll of toilet paper, taking a few squares, and wiped her mouth.

"Are you okay?" Al asked for the doorway.

She was breathing unsteadily but she felt fine. "I'm tired. Can I please just go back to bed?"

"Nobody's stopping you," Ed took her by the upper arm, his fingers on the _E_, _R_, and the second _E_ of her tattoo. She stood up, with a little of his help, and walked out of the room.

"Should we tell Teacher?" Al asked.

"Just a 24 hour flu, probably," Ed replied. "She should be fine."

"Yeah, okay, brother." They turned off the light and left the room.

**In Kairi and Wrath's Bedroom...**

"Kairi, are you alright?" Wrath turned over as soon as she entered the room.

"I'm fine, Wrath. Please, just go back to sleep. I'm tired and I don't want to talk." He turned over obediantly; she hadn't planned on actually going to sleep, but she was out like a ligth the moment her head hit the pillow. She didn't wind up with much rest, though, seeing as nightmares danced through her head the entire night.

**This was mostly a filler chapter. =[ Sorry. Next chapter should be a little more interesting. :] Bwahaha. Should I make her leave next chapter or the one after that? I think it's for you guys to decide. :D Sorry it's been like eight days since I updated. Forgive me? Just review, mkay? And also, why is it that people always write R&R at the end of their chapters? Cuz it mean "read and review" and they already "read" it. Right? lol.**


	9. Sparks Fly

**Thank you, DarkAngelDreams13!! The ever-so-supportive reviewer. =] See? I love my reviewers. And if you review enough, I'll mention you. =D Song is Sparks Fly, by Taylor Swift, and it isn't mine. She never released a recorded studio version. The only way to listen to it is the live concert version, but it still rocks. Sorry if you don't like Taylor Swift. I'll probably use a few of her songs. Read anyway?**

**WARNING: there's a bit of fluff in here! just a cottonball, but still fluff!!**

_**The way you move is like a full on rainstorm  
and I'm a house of cards  
You say my name for the first time, baby, and I  
Fall in love in an empty bar**_

After her bath the next morning, she recalled last night's up-chuck and skipped on breakfast. Her hair was brushed, her eyeliner on, and she did feel much better, but she wasn't up to eating right then. She looked in Wrath's bedside table and found an alchemy book. It was covered with a layer of dust, and she could tell no one had picked it up in ages. She took it from the drawer, closed the drawer, and sat on her bed, her back pressed against the wall. Her heels just barely touched the edge of the bed. She sighed, wishing she'd just grow taller. _Now I know how Ed must feel._ She laughed lightly.

After blowing the dust off the cover of the book and coughing as it found its way up her nose, she discovered the book was _How To Draw A Transmutation Circle._ She'd read this so many times with Sal. He'd been so skilled. He fixed everything. Everything that was wrong. He made everything all better. He'd raised her more than her own father had. She sighed, opened the book, and started to read the first page.

_**And you stood there in front of me just  
Close enough to touch  
Close enough to hope you couldn't see  
What I was thinking of**_

She heard the door creak open, finished her sentence, and glanced up. Ed was there, a smile on his _adorable_ face. "Why'd you miss breakfast? Is your stomach bothering you?" He had a wooden cup in his hand, and she set the book aside so she could take it. It was filled with green tea. and mint. Sal had told her once that tea with mint soothed stomach aches. _How thoughtful._ Her heart swelled; _does he like me? It's so hard to read his eyes._

Ironically, nearly the same thing was running through Ed's mind. He didn't know why, but he wanted her to be happy, and he was willing to do just about anything to make her so. **Awww!! :D** She patted the bed next to herself, and he sat down beside her, their back against the walls, an inch seperating them.

_**Drop everything now  
Meet me in the pouring rain  
Kiss me on the sidewalk  
Take away the pain  
Cuz I see, Sparks Fly, whenever you smile**_

"What are you looking at?" He reached over her lap, where her hands cupped the hot tea, and picked up the faded brown leather book. The pages were yellow and it looked like at some point someone had spilled water on it, because the print was a little blurry and there were water stains on the second half of the book.

"_How To Draw A Transmutation Circle_," she laughed. "Who knew you needed a whole book on that?"

"Yeah." He paused. "You know how yesterday you showed Teacher how you could fix the toothbrush container with alchemy?" She nodded and took a sip out of her cup. The book was in Ed's lap and she was staring at the strange circle in the book. "Well, it was really good."

"Thanks."

"You just... didn't use a Transmutation Circle. That surprises me, because not very many people... do it that way."

"I never learned how to draw a Transmutation Circle. Sal tried to teach me, but I could never grasp it." She took another sip.

"But do you know _why_ you don't need one?"

_**Get me with those green eyes, baby**_

_**As the lights go down**_

_**Something that'll haunt me when**_

_**You're not around**_

_**Cuz I see, Sparks Fly, whenever you smile**_

"Sal didn't know why. He was confused about it... for so long." She looked down at the liquid. Her mind wandered off, wondering why they called it green tea when it was really a shade of yellow, or maybe brown.

"How exactly did your parents die?"

She didn't want to answer it, but one look at his bright-yet-determined amber eyes and she knew she would tell him anything he wanted to know. "Mommy died when I was four. She fell down the stairs, and I was home alone for two days with her. I thought she was sleeping." She took another small drink of the tea. Ed made it well. _For a boy, anyway._ "Dad died trying to bring her back."

"How did you live? You don't even have a scratch!" Ed looked at her incredulously.

"I don't know how it _really_ happened, down to the technical science- terms. I was just about to go through these huge wooden doors, and he grabbed my foot and threw me back."

"That was it? He died, and you almost did?"

"I already told you, I'm not sure." She curled her legs underneath her body. She hated talking about it. Especially to him. It was so...awkward.

_**So reach out open handed  
And lead me out to that floor  
I don't need more paper lanterns  
Take me down, baby bring on the movie star**_

"Well, I wasn't planning on openly showing you this, but..." He took off his red overcoat, revealing his metal arm. "It's my leg, too. I just... people get kind of freaked out when they see it."

She held the tea in her left hand and touched his metal fingers in the other. " Ow?"

She said it so innocently, they both laughed. She looked him right in the eye for a minute, then blushed and looked away. _Ugh. I hate blushing. My face gets all hot and prickly and I hate it. Why does he have to make me blush?_ They were silent for a moment, and she snuck a glance at him. _Ohmigod._ He had a determined, almost angry face on, but at the same time she could tell he wasn't quite _angry_. And he was blushing.

_**Cause my heart is beating fast  
And you are beautiful  
I could wait patiently but  
I really wish you would**_

"So what's with you and Wrath? Everytime I try to talk to the kid, he lashes out, and he follows you around like a lost dog."

"Oh, that." She giggled and finished her tea, setting it on the bedside table. "It could have something to do with all the times you've attacked the poor little kid."

"I did _not_ attack him!"

"Well, I don't believe you'd really try and _kill_ someone, Ed. But in his eyes, you were attacking him. Little kids aren't that trusting."

"But he was attached at your side ten minutes after you woke up!"

"Because I hadn't _attacked_ him."

"That's not the point!" He covered half his face with his hand, in a meager attempt to hide the redness.

"Are you _blushing_?" She pretended to be incredulous, and pulled his hand away from his face.

"No! Don't look at me!"

"I'm loooooooking," she giggled again.

"I _said_ don't look at me!" He rolled away.

_**Drop everything now  
Meet me in the pouring rain  
Kiss me on the sidewalk  
Take away the pain  
Cuz I see, Sparks Fly, whenever you smile  
**_  
"Ed, you are just too... cute." She said it the same way she would if she were talking to a dog. "But just a little on the short side."

He got that familiar look of indignance. "I. Am. Not. Short. Never say that again and I won't have any problems with you."

"Yeah, sure." She rolled her eyes again. Her hand found its way to the tattoo on her arm.

Ed leaned over and took her arm gently by his good hand. "Do you remember what it means?"

"No," she replied. "But I wanted it done. I begged someone to do it for me. I just can't remember why." She stared down at the cold, cruel, black letters. _Serenity_. It could mean so many things.

_**Hit me with those green eyes, baby  
As the lights go down  
Something that'll haunt me when you're not around**_

_**Cuz I see, Sparks Fly whenever you smile**_

"When did you get it?"

"It was after Sal died."

"Do you remember anything about that guy that was here?"

"Kayle?" She moved her gaze from the tattoo to Ed's face. His golden eyes were curious. "I told him I'd go back with him. I don't know when I should go though." She paused, closing her eyes, picturing it. "There was a lot of people. Living in a house, just half a mile away from the road. There's a sort of... lake, a quarter of a mile away, with a waterfall. We went swimming there." She frowned, her eyes still closed. "I can't swim."

"You're leaving?" Ed answered casually, but inside he was disappointed. After he and Al had their fun, he thought it might've been nice to come back and have her there

Her eyes opened. "Maybe in a few days. I don't know _what_ I'm going to tell Wrath."

"Yeah, he might not take that so well." Ed rubbed the back of his neck. "Remember anything else?" He wanted to say _Remember anything useful?_ But he didn't want to be too harsh.

_**I run my fingers through your hair  
And watch the lights go wild**_  
_**Keep your beautiful eyes on me  
Gonna strike this match tonight  
Lead me up the staircase  
Won't you whisper soft and slow  
I'd love to hate it  
But you make it like a fireworks show**_

"I just..." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I keep thinking someone beat me up or something. It could've been when I got hurt- like when Izumi found me. But it's different every time I remember it. Like it happened more than once. A lot more than once. And every time I'm just scared. I think that's why I left, but I can't remember."

"Someone was hitting you?" Ed looked a little suprised. _Why would someone want to hit _her_? Of all people._

"I think. I'm not sure." She stood up and picked up the book. Closing it, she set it gently back in its drawer and closed it. The drawer was creaky. "It doesn't matter."

"Are you _sure_?" He looked at her doubtfully. "Because it would be a little bit of a big deal to me if I were in your situation." She may have been good at lying, but she knew he didn't believe her for a second. She was going to have to distract him from that.

"Really, Ed. It's sweet of you to ask, but I was probably imagining it."She gave him a hug, stood on her tip-toes, and kissed him on the cheek. "I have a big imagination." She turned and skipped from the room before he could see her blush.

_**Drop everything now**_

_**Meet me in the pouring rain**_

_**Kiss me on the sidewalk**_

_**Take away the pain**_

_**Cuz I see, Sparks Fly, whenever you smile**_

As soon as she was outside, Wrath's big eyes were in her face. "Did I hear you _kiss_ him?" His innocent, childish face was disbelieving.

"Only on the cheek." She took a step back.

"But you _like_ him! So that makes it ten times worser!"

"I know, I know, Wrath." She covered her eyes with her hands and laughed. "Let's go sit outside." The pair turned and walked down the hall.

_**Hit me with those green eyes, baby**_

_**As the lights go down**_

_**Something that'll haunt me when you're not around**_

_**Cuz I see, Sparks Fly, whenever you smile**_

Edward had a smile on his face as he exited Kairi and Wrath's room, the cup in his hand. He'd pressed his ear to the door and heard every word.

_**Sparks fly**_

_**Yeah, baby, smile**_

_**Sparks fly**_

**That night...**

Ed left his coat in her room, but didn't realize it until shortly after he and Al had headed off to bed, which was much later than Kairi and Wrath, who always seemed to go to sleep before them. She'd left it hanging on the doorknob outside of her room.

Remembering their conversation from earlier, he frowned. She may have believed the memories were just a figment of her imagination (which he still didn't believe), but he planned on taking them seriously. But then he blushed when he remembered how she'd departed. _She's so... sweet. Who would want to hurt her? What could she have done so bad?_ He frowned, still blushing, then walked back to the room he and Al shared.

**I love Ed. He so rocks. And I took the Mary Sue test on Kairi, (like two different tests) and the first one said she wasn't a Mary Sue and the second one said she was the worst kind of Mary Sue there is!! So what do you guys think she is? Mary Sue or not? Answer the poll on my profile. Being honest. But if you don't have an account and you're an anonymous reviewer, just review and tell me what you think. Thanks!**


	10. The Chapter Where Stuff Happens

**As you can clearly see, this chapter is entitled: The Chapter Where Stuff Happens. It is because stuff happens in this chapter. Also, I have the next couple of chapters already written, but I'm angry with you all. Not ONE SINGLE REVIEW for the last chapter. And it had EdXKairi fluffiness in it!!! What's wrong with you people??? D: I also have a lot of the next part of the story laid out, so they should be quicker to write. I'm still mad at all of you, though. Grrrr.**

They reached the house when the moon was setting. She knew this house so well; she could already see which room was where, who stayed in which room. The house was a two-story. It was painted a shade of dark, deep green with white around the windows, but it was fading and chipping off. The roof was pointed, and the highest window was broken in half, but the missing half was covered with duct tape. The front lawn wasn't mown and there was a small garden lining the broken cobblestone path, but the flowers were brown and dead. _It's a beautiful house. Just that no one takes care of it._

"Everyone's asleep," Kayle whispered. "Do you know where your room is?"

"I remember that now," she mumbled back. Kayle and Travis had shared a bedroom right next to Serina's, which was next to Audrey and Kairi's and across from Suki, who was the last door on the right next to the the bathroom. Carson's was under the stairs. There were two empty rooms in the house: the guest room, and Carson's parents' room.

She tried to be as quiet as she possible could as she followed Kayle up the stairs. There were thirty-two of them. She'd once had a habit of counting each step when she walked up them. He whispered, "G'night." After he'd stepped into his room, she continued down the hall until she reached the room she had once shared with Audrey. She only hesitated for a moment; after closing the door quietly behind her, she stumbled into bed, Her feet ached and she was completely exhausted. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

**The next day...**

Kairi's eyes fluttered open at noon the next day. She stretched, rolled over, and landed on her knees. Rubbing the sight back into her eyes, she walked to Audrey's dresser. When she looked in the drawer, she discovered it was full of black eyeliners identical to the one she'd had when Teacher found her. While she brushed her hair, she made a mental note to get her bangs cut a little shorter. She hated them getting in her eyes. After applying her eyeliner, she though, _Audrey's so girly. She actually has a drawer full of eyeliner. I wonder where Lee is._ She had just remembered Audrey's pet ferret, Lee. Audrey and Kayle had gone into town and they came home with him. She smiled to herself.

Kairi turned and exited the room. The second the door shut behind her, something crashed into her side. She let out a strangled scream and her body made a light _thud_ as she hit the ground.

"Kairi!" Suki shrieked, her arms encasing Kairi and her eyes lit with delight. "Kairi! Kairi! Kairi!"

"Uhm- Suki?" She stared up at the ecastic Japanese girl's face.

Suki gasped. "You remember me!"

"I remember you guys now. But not everything."

"Yay!" Suki was so bubbly and happy. "Come see everyone!" When they stood up, she saw that Suki was exactly the same height as her, give or take a few millimeters, but she weighed a bit more.

She let Suki drag her down the stairs, around the corner, and into the kitchen. The first thing she saw was the board that always stuck up, because she was staring at the floor. (Suki had nicknamed it Charlie.) She had always tripped on the dumb thing. It was near the counter. Everyone was gathered at the table, talking, but they were silent, and they turned and stared at her.

Audrey and Serina jumped up first. Thier arms wrapped around her, and she had to choke out, "I can't breathe" before they let her go. Carson came more slowly, and he gave her a one-armed hug. No one was paying Travis any mind, but he seemed bent on ignoring her. She sighed inwardly, her eyes averting him.

"We're going swimming. We were waiting for you to wake up," Audrey pushed her toward the stairs. "Everyone's going to get changed!" She yelled it to everyone else, who obediantly got up and ran passed them up the stairs. "I _shall_ teach you to swim!"

"I don't-" She was interrupted when a furry rodent ran up her leg and clung to her neck. "Oh, hi, Lee." She reached up and touched the tattoo on her arm.

"You'll get it soon enough." Audrey threw a black two-piece bathing suit at her. "Change."

"I don't want to go," Kairi mumbled, picking it up off the floor.

"Deal with it," she smiled, then said, "I told you not to come back."

"I don't remember any of that."

"It was because Travis was hurting you. Don't get alone with him."

"I know."

"You know that much," she rolled her brown eyes. "I'm changing in the bathroom." She walked out of the room, her brown and pink bathing suit in her hand. Kairi sighed and started to change.

**25 minutes later...**

Audrey made everyone run the quarter of a mile, making comments about how slow they were going from ten feet ahead of them. _She's always been the energy of us._ Kairi had almost drowned here so many times. It wasn't even really a lake. It was a bowl about fifty feet across made of rock that was hollowed out by the waterfall at the far end. The waterfall itself was twenty feet high, but there was a steep path that they'd always climbed up and jumped off. The water was fifteen feet deep where they usually landed after they jumped.

"Get in the water. I'm going to teach you to swim," Audrey announced.

"It won't work. It never does." It wasn't that Kairi didn't _want_ to learn to swim- she really did. She just never really learned how.

"Yes it will, because you're going to jump off the waterfall at least once before we leave. I'm certain you would want to know how to swim then."

"You're so mean." She knew there really wasn't a point in arguing after Audrey made up her mind. Audrey had that effect on people; Kairi had always guessed that she learned from her dad how to be so manipulative.

"Just come in the water," Audrey pushed her toward the water. Serina and Suki were already in, and Carson and Travis were climbing up the trail to the waterfall. She wasn't afraid of heights, she just didn't like the idea of climbing up there at all.

Kairi touched a toe into the water. It wasn't that cold, but it wasn't exactly warm. She stepped in slowly, trying to get used to it, then sat down. She hated it here. "Audrey? Is there any chance I can convince you to let me walk back?"

"Absolutely not." Audrey had already gone under, but her hair still seemed in place. _She is the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen in my life._ "Now come on." Her fingers wrapped around Kairi's upper arm, and she dragged her into water where she couldn't touch, but Audrey could. "Now kick your legs and use your arms." _Ugh, I hate this so much!_ She'd always tormented Kairi like this.

"I'm going back to the house," Kairi mumbled, trying to work herself free of Audrey's grip.

"No! I'm teaching you to swim,"

"I don't wanna learn," Kairi finally managed to fight her way free of Audrey, but she was out of reach of the ground, so she sort of moon-walked until she could touch. **You know, that thing where you go under and moon-walk underwater? I love doing that XD except I can swim.** She "ran" as fast as she could through the water, away from Audrey, and threw over her shoulder, "I'm going back!" She ran the rest of the way to the house.

"Hey, Kayle," Travis turned to his friend as they reached the trail, planning on jumping off the fall again.

"What's up?"

"I'm going to talk to Kairi. See you later?"

"Yeah, okay," Kayle replied. Travis turned and walked down the trail.

**Meanwhile...**

Kairi had been running, so she reached the house in just a few minutes. She walked up the stairs and changed into her black shorts and black tanktop; after drying and brushing her hair, she reapplied her eyeliner and left the room. She could see Lee scuttle under the door to Kayle and Travis's room. She tried to ignore the door's existence. She wouldn't be caught dead in that bedroom, with its walls painted a lime green, and the window that viewed the trail to the Lake.

Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs and into the kitch. She picked up a glass cup and filled it with water, taking a sip of it, when she heard the front door. It startled her, and she'd always been clumsy, combined with the water that had splashed on the outside of the cup, and it slipped out of hand and shattered to pieces on the floor.

"Kairi?" She knew his voice so well.

She walked to the kitchen doorway, then called, "I'm in here, Travis."

And as soon as she turned around, her bare foot caught Charlie's edge, and she landed on top of the glass pieces. Gasping, she rolled off, trying to get off the fragments. Sticky, red blood was oozing onto the floor, and her arm was cut from about an inch below her wrist to about six inches below it. She was on her back and she started trying to pull pieces of the cup out of her arm.

"Great," Travis commented gruffly, gripping her upper arm- not at all gently- he pulled her to her feet. "Kairi, you haven't changed at all." He led her up the stairs and into the bathroom, trying to pick out the glass along the way.

"Augh, it hurts," she closed her eyes as he ran water over it.

"Well, then stop falling down, Blondie."

She opened one eye and studied his face. His brows were creased as he pulled glass from her arm, water still running from his hair. She could hardly stand being so close to him. He meant well, but he was hurting her, and at the time it was like it was all he'd ever done.

"Augh." He dried her arm with a towel and opened a drawer full of bandages so he could wrap her arm up.

"You were always falling down," he broke their long, awkward silence. His body was practically pressed to her's. "Constantly. Like, twice a day."

She didn't reply.

**At the Lake...**

"Kayle!" Audrey called over the rushing water.

"What?" He replied. They were on top of the cliff, getting ready for their seventh jump down together.

"Where's Travis at?"

"He went to the house to talk to Kairi."

"Alone?"

"Yeah."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing," she smiled. "Let's jump." They sailed down the waterfall, hands clasped together.

**Anywhooo...**

"I'll finish it," she didn't mean to sound so gruff, it just came out that way. She jerked her hand out of his grasp and walked quickly out of the room, attempting to get away from his body, his _smell_. She used to love that smell. Like when you put an apple in water and let it soak, and then you sniff it. But it made her sick to her stomach now.

"I'm just trying to help you," he replied defensively, following her out of the room.

"I don't need your _help_," she spat the word, and he grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around to face him.

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because I don't want you to hurt me anymore!" She finished taping up the bandage and pried his fingers from her arm. They left a red outline, but they wouldn't bruise.

"I don't want to hurt you anymore!"

"Oh, not _anymore_," she scoffed. "Then why the _hell_ did you in the first place?"

"Because you always find a way to make me _that_ angry! You did everything you could to get under my skin!"

She laughed bitterly, taking a step back. "Wow. That's right. It's all _my_ fault. I'm so sorry. I totally _deserve_ every scar you ever gave me."

"Sometimes you did!"

**In the bushes? Wtf?...**

"Brother, they look angry," Al's voice was nervous. "Should we go inside?"

"Not unless he hurts her. We don't want them to know we're here without a reason." He smiled bitterly. "Besides. If we wait and he does hit her, I'll have an excuse to send the bastard through a wall."

"But-"

"Believe me, Al, I want to go in there as much as you do." He stared hard through the window. He and Al were sitting on their knees in the bushes. "Just wait."

**And as that was going on...**

"That's a bunch of _crap_ and you know it!"

"How do _you_ know? You don't even _remember_ any of it, right?"

"Augh!" She covered her face with her hands. "I remember _enough_."

He stomped around her and walked down the stairs and out of the house, slamming the door. She took a deep, shuddering breath and started to walk down the stairs, picking up pieces of glass that had fallen out of her arm on the way. She wished Ed was there.

**Gasp!! JK lol. Mkayy; so if I get enough votes on my profile poll and anonymous answers I will gladly reward you with a peak at a future chapter and a speedy update! But please review this time, 'kay? I worked hard on the last chapter, and ya'll hurt mah feelings! D: Haha, first reviewer for next chap gets a dedication. Anyway, here's the tiniest bit of a hint at the future chapter: the song Your Face, by Taylor Swift. =] Review! I can update within a day! The next chapters are written!! =D Go go go!!**


	11. Homeless Heart

**Whooo!! I'd love to thank all my reviewers! I guess complaining about not having any reviews worked. XD lol. This chapter is dedicated to TheRandomGirlUnderTheRock for reviewing first, but DarkAngelDreams13 and Neko Ed Lover get honorable mentions. (Especially Neko Ed Lover- you reviewed like eighty times. XD haha.**

**Later that night...**

After some probing from Audrey, Kairi had described her "boyfriend." Audrey was awake long after everyone else fell asleep, so she slipped into a pair of pink flip-flops, and made her way outside. She'd seen this boy that Kairi had described; he'd been lurking around outside their house ever since Kairi had gotten there, along with a tall guy in a suit of armor.

When she was far enough away from the house, she called, "Ed! Edward!" When he didn't reply, she giggled, and yelled, "Shorty!"

He immediately jumped up from behind a bramble bush, yelling, "Who are you calling 'shorty'?!"

"Sorry. What are you doing out here?"

"What do you think? I'm making sure Kairi's okay."

"You can come inside and do that. Carson will let you stay. He lets everyone stay."

"That's not really a good idea..."

"We have a guest bedroom. Come one," She grabbed his arm, and Al stood up beside him.

"It's okay, brother. You need to sleep in a bed." They followed her into the house.

**So the next morning...**

Kairi had a nightmare that night. When she woke up, she searched the cabinets for something to eat, and then realized she wasn't hungry. Audrey appeared in the room, picked up an orange, started to peel it, and announced, "I found Ed last night. He's sleeping in the guest room with his friend in all the armor."

"What?" She left the room as Audrey was repeating her statement. She wasn't angry; more like excited, surprised, and a bit confused.

She opened the guest bedroom and closed the door bewhind her. Ed was sleeping in the bed, and Al was sitting on the floor in the corner. She got to her knees beside the bed and shook his shoulder. "Ed? Ed, wake up."

He rolled over, shielding his eyes from the light with his metal arm. "Whaaaaat?"

"Wake up. What are you doing here?"

"Uh- heheh," he grinned nervously. "You said someone was hurting you and I was making sure you were okay?" He searched her face, hoping he hadn't said the wrong thing. Girls were crazy like that.

"That's very sweet," she laughed, "but come in the house next time."

"Okay," he looked like a scolded puppy that had meant well.

"Now fix your braid and come downstairs. I was to show off my boyfriend." She giggled and skipped out of the room.

"_Boyfriend_?" Al looked at Ed, well, it would have been incredulously,but he's sort of a suit of armor, so he couldn't really do that.

"She told them that I'm her boyfriend to get that Travis guy off her back."

"Ohhh. And I'm _sure_ you didn't mind at all," Al laughed.

**And in the kitchen...**

"So where's he at?" Serina asked. Obviously, it was time to eat, because everyone was in the kitchen, eating some sort of fruit. Fruit was their main diet, since no one knew how to cook (well, Kayle did, but he was lazy). Her gaze met Travis's for a second before she turned to Serina, who was prying a cross from Suki's hands as she aimed it at Travis.

"He'll be down in a moment. Don't say anything about his height. He has an automail arm and leg, pretend you don't notice them. I don't want you hurting his feelings. He's also got his brother with him. Big guy, suit of armor. Don't gawk at him. He's just tall."

"Okay, okay," Audrey laughed. "Sweetie, we get it. We'll be nice to Ed."

"Unless he's like Travissssss," Suki hissed like a cat, bending low to the table, in a tug of war match with Serina over the wooden cross.

"Whaaat?" Travis rolled his eyes at her.

"I will stop at nothing to expose you, demon," she squinted her dark eyes at him.

Kairi laughed. She heard Al coming down the stairs, so she hurried from the room, took a sharp right, and caught him at the bottom of the stairs. She whispered, "Be nice, okay? To _everyone_." She raised her eyesbrows, which meant, _Including Travis._

"You don't have anything to worry about, Kairi," he gave a small smile, and she interlaced her fingers with his so she could drag him into the kitchen. She loved the way his entire tone of voice changed when he spoke to her. It got a bit softer, more gentle and quiet, and it made her heart speed up in contrast.

Sukie squeaked as Ed walked in. "Gawshezz, Kairi, he's a _cutie_."

Ed and Al laughed, and Kairi said, "This is Ed, and his brother Al. Ed, Al, this is Audrey, Serina, Suki, Kayle, Travis, and Carson." She pointed to each person as she said their name. Her hand was still in Edwards, but she reluctantly released it so she could make herself a cup of tea. She stole a glance at him from the counter opposite the table. He was starting up an easy conversation with Carson. She grabbed an apple and poured him a glass of milk. He accepted the apple, but took one look at the milk and announced, "I hate milk."

"Then _I'll_ drink it," she replied indignantly, and giggled. She'd wanted a cup of tea, but she'd drink his milk for him.

"Where did you meet him?" Serina asked. She was trying to untangle the cross that had somehow wound up in Suki's hair.

"It was wierd. I'm pretty sure it was how I lost my memory. A woman named Izumi found me and she's an old friend of Ed's, so I met him when she helped me."

"Awww. When'd you get together?" Audrey giggled girlishly.

"Like a week later," Kairi replied. She touched the tattoo on her arm absentmindedly. "Do you know how I got this tattoo? And why?"

"Well," Audrey looked at it. The fancy black letters climbed up her upper arm. S-E-R-E-N-I-T-Y. "Kayle mentioned something about his cousin owning a tattoo and piercing shop the next town over, so we went together, and I got my navel done." She lifted up her shirt and revealed a dangling silver chain with a pink jewel at the end of it. _Even her dark side is girly. But I remember the tattoo shop. The tattoo artist was missing one of his teeth._ "When I came out of the piercing room with it done, the person at the counter told me you were getting a tattoo in the other room. You never told me what it meant."

She successfully hid her disappointment. "Ah, well, I'll remember it eventually."

"You played guitar," Suki announced, finally pulling the cross free from her hair and peeling an orange. "But you never wrote any songs."

"It's cuz you didn't actually know _how_ to play," Serina laughed. "I just taught you how to move your fingers to like three songs."

"What songs did I know?" She closed her eyes, trying to remember. The guitar was very old; Serina's father had made her learn to play, but she played it well.

"Songs I wrote. They were called Fearless, Things I'll Never Say, and Another Heart Calls." **Yeahh I know she didn't actually write those songs, but this is really the only time I mention it. I just don't think I should say they're cover songs because Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, and All American Rejects weren't really alive in like Year 12. XD**

"Ohh, I remember. What else did I do?"

"You fell down a lot," Suki laughed. "All the time. You were always bruised up."

Kairi's stomach dropped, but she laughed. She pretended not to notice Travis glaring at her, but it must have bothered Ed, because he took his hand in her's and continued his conversation with Carson. _But I was clumsy. It wasn't just him._ "I remember. It's always Charlie that gets me." She patted the bandage wrapped around her left forearm.

Suki laughed peevishly. "Carson keeps trying to fix Charlie, but Charlie's feelings would be hurt, so I won't let him." She glared at Travis, her face dark, her eyes seething. "I believe Travis continues his efforts to lead Carson and Kayle into the darkness. Your dearest Edward is next."

"Keep me posted," Kairi gave a half smile. _Something must have really messed her up. She's always been so... crazy._

"Just ignore him, Suki," Serina patted her arm.

**So later that day...**

_**Lonesome stranger  
With a crowd around you  
I see who you are**_

There really was nothing to do at the house except go swimming, so everyone left around noon except for Ed, Al, and Kairi (who managed to convince Audrey that she wanted to spend a little time with Ed because she hadn't seen him in days).

Kairi started laughing as soon as everyone was gone. "God, that was hilarious. Travis just couldn't keep his eyes off you. You'd think he was gay."

"Yeah. I blame you." Ed pouted. "So how long are we stuck here?"

"A week, tops." She paused. "Poor _Wrath_. I hope he isn't too lonely."

"I'm sure he isn't," Al commented, sitting down on a couch in the living room. Ed and Kairi joined him. "Anyways, have you remembered anything else?"

"Yeah. I was worse than clumsy." She giggled. She was sitting on the far left, Al on the far right, and Ed was in the middle. Tucking her feet underneath her, she pointed out the bandage on her arm. "The other day I fell on top of a shattered cup."

"Brother did that once," Al commented thoughtfully. "It was on his birthday, except for he broke the window and..."

She didn't hear the rest.

_**You joke, they laugh  
Till the show is over  
Then you fall so hard**_

_"But Mommy, he promised. He promised, Mommy!"_

_"I know, Kairi, please be good. His job is so stressful, you know that. They have him busy." Her kind face was wrinkled around the edges, the face that meant she was deeply upset or in danger of crying. She buried her face in her hands and sighed._

_She glared bitterly at the cake in front of her, white with pink icing. She didn't know why her mother always gave her such girly things. She hated pink. "It's my birthday. I'm three now and he doesn't even know it. He promised he'd come home. And he's at his dumb work. Why can't he just come home?"_

_She remembered the conversation they'd had earlier. It had ended in an argument, and Mommy had slammed the phone down._

_"He just can't. It's the way things are, and there's absolutely no way to change it." Her mother's voice was firm and stressed. "Just eat your cake."_

_"I don't want it!" She screamed. "I hate it! I hate it and Daddy hates it! If he liked it he'd be here!" With those last words, she slammed her face down into the center of the cake. Mommy started to cry._

_**If you're needing  
A soul-to-soul connection  
I'll run to your side**_

"Kairi? Hello?" Ed whistled and waved his hand in front of her face. "Anyone alive?"

"Huh?" She blinked, shaking her head. "Oh. Yeah, I'm here. And healthy. Sorry, I just had major brain freeze." She tried to laugh it off, but he kept a look of slight concern on his face. "Are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat."

"Nah, I'm good."

"I'm _bored_," she rested her chin in her hands. "I'm _dying_."

"Don't even joke like that," Ed laughed.

"What else do you remember?" Al asked. _That's all he's ever interested in._

"I made my mom cry once. That's like it."

"What about your tattoo?" Ed asked, gently taking her arm so he could examine it again.

"Just that I got it done with Audrey and I never told her why." She sighed. "It'll come back eventually."

_**When you're lost in the dark  
When you're out in the cold  
When you're looking for something that resembles your soul  
When the wind blows your house of cards  
I'll be a home to your homeless heart**_

"It's taking longer than I thought it would, though," Ed replied. "How do the memories actually come back?"

"Well..." She turned her head sideways. "Usually if someone says something that... reminds me of something I don't remember, I have sort of a flashback and I remember what it was." She paused. "And I think it's taking a long time because I have a lot to remember. I had a good memory."

"Ohhh," Ed commented. Their eyes met for a moment, and she blushed and buried her face in her knees, but he laughed and said, "I _saw_ that!"

"Augh! You caught me!" _It's so frustrating. I never used to blush._

"I'm leaving," Al replied. "Don't feel like watching all this. I'm too young." He pretended to cover his ears and ran out of the room.

_**Open, close me  
Leave your secrets with me  
I can ease your pain**_

"We scared Al away." She laughed and sat up. "And we didn't even do anything."

"Yeah." He didn't say anything for a moment. She rolled her eyes. He was staring off into space. They didn't move for a moment, and then she put her feet in his lap. He laughed and pushed them off.

"What's your favorite song?" She asked him, her eyes looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't really have time to listen to music," he replied.

"Eghh." She giggled. "I always liked the song Homeless Heart, by Jennette McCurdy." **Yahh she doesn't exist yet, but deal with it.**

"Why?"

"It reminds me of someone." Her lips were curved into a small smile. "I wonder where Al went."

"Probably hiding somewhere upstairs." Ed laughed

_**And my arms will be  
Just like walls around you  
Come in from the rain**_

She smirked. _He always makes me laugh. Isn't this how I felt about Travis before he went crazy?_ "Ed? What exactly happened to your arm and leg?"

"Just an accident I had a while back."

"Oh," she had no reason to doubt him.

"How come you never eat?" He was trying to distract her from the question.

"I hate food," she replied, her brow furrowed, and she crossed her arms. "It's so gross."

"Wow. I don't think I've ever met anyone that hated food."

"I don't know why. I just never liked to eat."

_**If you're running  
In the wrong direction  
I will lead you back**_

"Kairi?"

"What?"

"Do you have any idea who was hitting you?" He knew full well who it was, but he needed to make sure she knew.

"Yeah. It was Travis. Apparently I deserved it." The sentence came out bitter, then she shook her head. "You know what? I feel like swimming. Let's go to the Lake."

_**When you're lost in the dark  
When you're out in the cold  
When you're looking for something that resembles your soul  
When the wind blows your house of cards  
I'll be a home to your homeless heart**_

"Okay, but I'm not swimming," he replied.

"I know that, silly," she pecked his cheek. "I'm going upstairs to change. I'll be right down." She got up and ran upstairs to change into her black bathing suit. _She's obviously not in the mood to discuss Travis._ He knew how much she hated to swim from watching her at the Lake just the day before.

"Al!" He called. His brother appeared in the door. "We're going to walk with Kairi to the Lake."

"She hates swimming."

"Yeah, I know." At that moment, Kairi came downstairs, her hair pulled black in a clip and her black shorts on over her swimsuit.

_**Broken  
Shattered like a mirror  
In a million pieces  
Sooner or later  
You've got to find  
Something, someone  
To find you and save you**_

She hummed a tune under her breath on the walk there.

"What's that song?"

"Homeless Heart. It's stuck in my head now." **Actually, right now it's in my head. XD**

"Oh."

They were nearly there when they started to hear screaming. "That's Audrey!" Kairi jumped, then took off running toward the Lake. Audrey's earsplitting scream was filling Ed's ears, and Kairi was a few paces ahead of him.

_**When you're lost in the dark  
When you're out in the cold  
When you're looking for something that resembles your soul  
When the wind blows your house of cards  
I'll be a home to your homeless heart**_

_Why is she screaming?_ Ed thought, annoyed. _Is there a freakin' spider or something? I don't think she usually screams like that, because Kairi looks like she's about to jump out of her skin._ It was the kind of scream that made your flesh crawl and sent chills up your neck.

"Why is she screaming?" Ed asked Kairi, panting.

"I don't know, but it can't be good," Kairi gasped back.

_**When you're looking for something that resembles your soul  
When the wind blows your house of cards  
I'll be a home to your homeless heart**_

When Kairi finally reached the Lake, she gasped and stared up at the waterfall. She could never have imagined what she saw.

_**I'll be a home to your homeless heart...**_

**Sorry this has taken me forever to get up! I had it written, but I was at a friend's house. Sorry!! Thanks to all my wonderous reviewers! First reviewer for the next chap gets a dedication. You're probably not going to be expecting what's happening at the Fall. Song is Homeless Heart, by Jennette McCurdy. A cottonball of EdXKairi fluffys in here. It should get better. =] Thanks for reviewing! The more reviews, the faster the updates!**


	12. Twice On Sunday

**This chapter is officially dedicated to DarkAngelDreams13 for being the first reviewer. Things should get a little interestingggg. =]**

Ed saw it just after Kairi did. At the top of the waterfall, Kayle and Travis were locked in a violent tangle of flying fists, and Audrey was on the ground next to them, sitting up halfway, screaming bloody murder. Serina and Carson were trying to drag Suki out of the water, because she was trying to climb _up_ the waterfall, screeching something that sounded like, "I told you! He's evil! I told all of you!"

"Kairi!" She either didn't hear Ed yell for her, or she did and ignored him (which was a lot more likely). She must've worked well under pressure, because even though she was barefoot, she climbed the steep rock path in seconds and was at the top next to Audrey.

"Travis!" Audrey stood up next to her, and they both tried to pull the writhing, angry teenagers off of each other. "What the hell. Travis?! Knock it off!"

"I'll kill you!" Kayle was screaming. "I'll kill you!"

"Let it _go_, Kayle!" Audrey was straining to get Kayle away from Travis while Kayle clung to Travis, punching him at the same time.

"God damn it, Travis, what's your damage?!" Kairi pushed hard at Travis, but she was a lot smaller than him, and he kept glancing at her like an annoying flee he was just about to squish. **Has anyone ever given you that look? It makes me crazy!!!**

"Get off of me!" He turned around just long enough to shove her over the edge, then turned back to his fight with Kayle. She hit the water with a hollow splash. Audrey jumped off immediately afterward, and Carson started to swim out toward where Kairi had landed. Ed grunted with frustration; he and Al couldn't do anything. If they went up to the top, there was the possibility they'd land in the water. If they went to help Kairi Al's blood seal would wash away and Ed's arm and leg would just make him sink. Travis and Kayle were at the top, fighting more freely now that the girls were at the foot of the fall. Serina pushed Suki toward Al, mumbling something about not letting her back in the water, then ran to the top and shoved both boys off the fall and into the water. Ed saw Audrey and Carson drag Kairi out of the water. She was coughing and gasping, but she seemed okay. Carson looked grim; his face was so friendly it was practically incapable of showing any anger.

"Take your girlfriend," he dropped her bridal style into Ed's arms. She was panting, and she wiped her bangs out of her face, stared up at Ed for a second, then wrapped her arms around his neck. He blushed.

"Damn it, Kayle, knock it off!" Audrey was back in the water with Carson and Serina, attempting to pull the struggling boys off of each other. Suki was sitting on Al's shoulder, watching them squirm and scream. Her arms tightened around his neck. Her hair smelled clean- one of the cleanest smells there was- and he'd smelled it before, but he couldn't place it. Her breathing returned to normal just as the group in the water split in half; they'd finally managed to get Kale and Travis off of each other.

"Let it go, Kayle!" Audrey yelled. "We're going back. Right. Now." Kayle didn't argue, but he was obviously angry. Audrey was pretty steamed, and she wouldn't even look at Travis. Everyone started to walk back, except for Travis, who slunk out of the water, up the trail, and sat at the top of the waterfall, watching them go. Suki rode on Al's shoulder the whole way back, and Ed carried Kairi, simple because he wouldn't let her down. They were silent.

When they reached the house, Ed took Kairi upstairs and set her down on the floor, asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She sat on the floor to avoid getting the bed wet. He sat down next to her.

"We'll be out of here soon. Just don't stray too far from anyone, okay?"

"As if. Thanks for carrying me. I could've walked."

"I wanted to," he replied, squeezing her hand.

She gave a half smile. "That's so sweet." She laughed. "I gotta get changed. Go downstairs. I'll be right down." He left obediantly, walked down the stairs, and found Serina, Suki, Audrey, Al, Kayle, and Carson gathered at the table. Carefully avoiding Charlie, Ed sat down at an empty chair next to Audrey.

"Why were you fighting?" Serina asked, running her hands through her red and black hair, breaking the long, tense silence.

"Because he pushed me," Audrey put her forehead in her hands. "And Kayle knew that he'd been hitting Kairi."

"He was hitting Kairi?" Carson looked up, shock apparent on his face. "And no one told me?"

Audrey was quiet for a few moment before replying. "Kairi didn't want anyone to know. That's why she left. But Kayle found out and I didn't know he knew, and Travis shoved me down on top of the waterfall, so Kayle jumped on him, and..." She let her voice trail off.

"If Travis is so damn danger ous, why don't you kick him out?" Ed asked. His temper was rising. Travis had pushed Audrey, he'd hurt _Kairi_, and even pushed Kairi off the top of a waterfall!

"Because until about five seconds ago, I didn't know how crazy he is," Carson glanced at Audrey and Kayle, but not accusingly.

"I told you!" Suki announced. "I told you all! You didn't believe me! I told you! He's evil!"

"We know, Suki," Serina patted her arm. "You were right. We're sorry for not believing you."

That was when there was a short, cut-off scream from upstairs, and thirty-two thuds.

**Minutes before that shocking installment...**

After fixing herself up, Kairi turned around, and just as soon as her hand touched the doorknob, she heard a small noise behind her. Whipping around, she saw Travis, who had just climbed in the window. _He's angry._ With a sharp intake of breath, she tore from the room. He was on top of her before she could run toward the kitchen. With his strong arms, he gripped her by the arm, lifted her high in the air, and sent her sailing down the stairs.

Ed was at her side seconds after she reached the bottom of the stairs, asking, "Are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

"I can't move my arm," she replied, and Ed picked her up bridal style so he could carry her up the stairs. Audrey followed them into the room and closed the door.

"What happened?" Audrey asked.

"Travis threw me down the freaking stairs," she replied as Ed set her down on the bed. She looked _pissed_. Audrey stuck her head out the door and yelled something about them looking for Travis, and everyone, including Al, fanned out to search the house.

"Her arms out of socket," Ed announced, feeling her shoulder.

Audrey helped Kairi sit up. "Can ypu pop it back into place?"

"Yes."

"To _hell_ you will!" Kairi tried to squirm away, but her right arm wouldn't work and Audrey had her left, so it was hard.

"Kairi, look at me," Audrey sat on the bed net to her and held her left hand. "Ed's not going to hurt you. He'd never-"

Ed chose that second to snap her arm up.

"Ow!" She punched him in the cheek, but she's more or less a weakling, so it didn't harm him. "That freaking hurt!"

"You're fine now," Audrey replied, inspecting her arms and legs. "Just a few bruises. You're gonna be okay." Kairi turned to Ed, stood up, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Audrey laughed when he blushed, his arms around her waist.

"If you leave now, you'll get back before dark," Audrey whispered, and she left the room.

"Do you want to leave, Kairi?" Ed mumbled in her ear. She nodded, and didn't move.

**With Al...**

When everyone searched the house for Travis, they discovered that Kayle and Travis's room had been trashed. Nothing of Kayle's was missing, but Travis's shoes were gone. Al went to Kairi's room just as Ed and Kairi exited it.

"We're leaving," Ed announced. Kairi sauntered off to say good-bye to her friend, and they started the long, silent walk back to Dublith.

The whole way back, thoughts ran through Kairi's head. The white dress from her mother's wedding day. A panic attack brought on by starvation, when Travis had pinned her down and Audrey had shoved food down her throat. The man with the wild dark hair that accidentally killed Sal and the horrified look on his face when he realized what he'd done. Ed's golden eyes. Her mother's brown ones. Her mother had been small, like her, and her hair had been the same color. Mommy's smile.

_"Mommy?"_

_"Kairi?"_

_"The stars are so pretty, Mommy. Do you think Daddy sees the stars?"_

_Mommy was on the plaid blanket beside her. "Of course Daddy does."_

_"What about the Big Dipper. Do you think he can find it, just like you?"_

_"Daddy can do that, too."_

_"Do you think Daddy loves James? Even though he never got borned alive?"_

_"Daddy does. The same way he loves you. Once every day, and twice on Sunday."_

_"Hey! But _you_ love me once every day and twice on Sunday!"_

_"Daddy can, too."_

_"Look, Mommy, the star is falling!"_

_She turns just in time to see the shooting star tumble from the sky._

_"Make a wish, Kairi."_

_The little hazel eyes close. "I wish Daddy will be home for my birthday this time."_

_"I'm sure he will."_

_"Say it again, Mommy," she smiles. touching her feet with her hands. "Again!"_

_"Okay," Mommy kissed her forehead. "I love you every day, and twice on Sunday."_

"Why are you smiling?" Ed asked her.

"Because my Mommy loves me every day, and twice on Sundays."

Ed raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

**Later...**

Darkness was gathering when they knocked on Teacher's door. Wrath opened it, and immediately jumped on Kairi. "Ohhh. Wrath, I'm too tired."

"Okay, let's go to bed," he replied. He took her hand and dragged her down the hallway. "You wouldn't believe how boring it was. And I thought you were leaving for a week? It's only been like..."

Ed turned to Al. "I'm ready for bed, too, actually. If we get there in a hurry we might avoid..."

"Avoid what?" Teacher materialized.

"Uh-" Ed grinned nervously. "Waking you up if you were sleeping."

"Really? Back so soon?"

"This creep named Travis picked Kairi up and threw her down the stairs, so we left."

"Hmmm," Teacher remarked. "Now I'm sort of glad you boys were there."

"We couldn't do much, though. I'm just glad she's alright. And she remembered a lot," Al said.

"Go to bed now," Teacher replied. "You can tell me more in the morning.

So they ran gratefully to their room.

**The next morning...**

"Ed?"

At the sound of her voice, Ed's eyes snapped open and he rolled over. She was on her knees next to his bed. "Kairi? It's like six o'clock in the morning!"

"You're leaving to look for the philosopher's stone, right? So-"

"How'd you know that?"

"Wrath told me," she replied. "Anywho, you're leaving, right? Well, I was wondering if you'd take me home on the way there. Like, walk with me. Cuz I don't want to go by myself because it's really far away, and-"

"Didn't we just bring you back from there?" He replied, sitting up in bed. She got off herknees and sat on the bed beside him.

"No. I want to go _home_." It took him a moment to understand what she meant. She wanted to go to the house where her parents had died.

**Does this count as a cliffie? I can't tell... but thanks to the reviewers!! Yay!! Same as always- first reviewer gets a dedication! More reviews, faster the update! And I also added some more pictures to the photobucket for the story. Link is in my profile. Go check them out. =] I animated the girls!! Thanks for reviewing!!**


	13. House Of Bones

**Do I really have to dedicate another chapter to DarkAngelDreams13? lol. She's the only one that reviews anymore. Haha. Let the torture begin!!**

_**I heard a song tonight on the radio  
Another girl sings about a boy**_

Wrath was completely disappointed that she was leaving so soon, but she promised to visit and said he was welcome at her house any time. Teacher hugged her good-bye and Sig grunted.

"Are you sure you remember the way?" Ed asked her once they'd reached the outskirts of Dublith.

"Well, duh. But we're going to have to go through Glory," she laughed bitterly. "It's probably not so glorious any more. The people would be so offended."

"I heard about Glory," Ed remarked.

"What happened to it?" Al asked. He appeared to have missed the news. Kairi sighed. It felt to good to remember, even if what she was remembering was a terrible thing.

_**She sees his face in every space,  
Every room and I know  
That if I turn around you won't be there  
If I close my eyes will you be there?**_

A little over a year before, someone had told the military that hundreds of Ishvalans had left thier camps and were hiding in the townspeople's houses. The intent had been to capture the refugees and prosecute those who had sheltered them, but an Ishvalan attacked, and the fighting started. She guess it had been an Ishvalan trying to distract them so they could escape, but a fire started, and it spread. Thousands died, and the city of Glory was reduced to ashes.

Ed finished explained to Al what had happened to it, then he turned to her and asked, "You were there?"

"I lived with Sal," she replied, "The guy that taught me alchemy. But he was killed."

"He might not have been. People got out alive. People from the city, military, and Ishvalans. He could've lived."

"I watched him die." She shuddered slightly. "A man with wild dark hair killed him. He burned him to death."

_**I don't want to lose your face  
And I don't want to wake up one day and not remember what time erased  
I don't want to turn around**_

Ed's eyes widened slightly. "What was he like?"

She thought for a moment. "Grim. And I think killing Sal was an accident. He was aiming for an Ishvalan with a gun."

She didn't hear Ed's sharp intake of breath or Al's change of pace, but they kept walking. That time she'd gotten lost, she'd walked as far away from them as possible. Now she wasn't more than a foot from Ed.

It took them three days to reach Glory, and by then it was nightfall, which cast an eerie glow on the barren land that was once Glory, with its headstrong, easily offended people and its three teashops all lined up in a row on Tame Street. The rains and weather of a year had long since washed the ashes away, but the uneasy feeling you get when you stand on land where thousands were massacred was apparent in Kairi's stomach. Needless deaths, whether by State Alchemists, Ishvalans, or both.

_**Cause I'm not scared of what love gave me and took away  
And I don't want to lose your face**_

They rolled thier sleeping bags out, Kairi's inches from Ed's, and Al sat next to them, on Ed's other side. It was barely cool enough for sleeping bags, so a fire was out of the question. He lit a small lantern and asked, "Is it too bright?"

"No, Ed, I'm fine," she smiled, laying down. She still couldn't shake the creepy feeling. She was lying right in the center of the city; she shuddered. "We've only got about... thirty-three more miles. Should take us a day or two."

Ed groaned.

"Thanks for coming with me," she curled up inside the sleeping bag and turned to him.

"We don't mind," he answered. "We don't have much else to do before we go looking for the Philosopher's Stone."

She smiled, and his golden eyes met her hazel ones for a moment. Their eyes locked for a moment, but it only lasted a second and a half before he murmered, "Good night," and rolled over. She sighed, his back to her. She fell asleep almost immediately. It had always been like that; if she didn't fall asleep fast, she suffered from insomnia and nightmares the whole night.

"Brother?" The suit of armor turned to Ed.

"Yeah, Al?" He lay on his back, arms crossed behind his head, and glanced at Kairi to see if she was sleeping (she was) before he stared up at the black sky, littered with a thoughsand tiny stars. The Milky Way stretched across it. It reminded him of her eyes; misty, but with signs of glitter and life.

_**I've got a picture of you in my bedroom  
And I hope it never falls**_

"If you like her so much how come you just don't ask her to be your girlfriend? Isn't that how that works?"

"I don't want a girlfriend."

"Why not?"

"Because I'd never be around."

"I _know_ she likes you. And if she does, she'll live."

"It's more complicated than that." What it really was? He was afraid of becoming his father. He didn't want to leave Kairi and have her die the way his mother did. He didn't want that to happen to anyone.

"But you like her, don't you?"

"We've established that." He glanced at her. "Now be quiet. I don't want her waking up. Good night, Al."

"Good night, Brother," Al sighed. He hated the night.

_**I hope I never lose that feeling  
I used to get when you called  
And then I wondered to myself  
Who were you, where are you  
Were you ever here at all**_

An hour later, he glanced from his brother to Kairi. They were both sleeping by then, and Ed had rolled over in his sleep so that they faced each other. Their foreheads were an inch apart. Al could've pushed their heads together and made them kiss, but he decided against it. It wasn't worth Ed's wrath.

They got farther than they expected the next day, but there was still seventeen miles away. **Believe it or not, it is possible to walk that far in a day.** That was also when they ran out of water. Not that it was even hot; the sky let loss with a light drizzle and it was the perfect temperature.

"I'm thirsty," Ed whined.

"Drink the rain," she replied. He took a deep breath. _This is what her hair smells like._ It had been eating at the back of his mind for days.

"Why didn't we just take horses?" Al asked. "It'd be a lot faster."

"LIke anyone would let you rent a horse and take it all the way out here," Kairi laughed.

They reached her house the next morning. Her stomach was in knots by the time she stepped up the porch steps. They creaked even under her weight. She wasn't quite tall enough to reach the key, which was tucked in a hold above the door. It didn't matter, though, because she hadn't locked it the day she left. She was about to open the door, but she turned around.

"Uhm- not that I don't appreciate you coming here, but it's not in your best interest to go inside of the house, so-"

"What? I can handle a messy house, if that's what it's about."

"No, it's not-" She stopped, sighed, and opened the door. When Ed came in, he saw what she hadn't wwanted him to see: the pile of bones that was supposed to be her mother. She'd left the body on the living room floor.

"Ohhh," he moved out of the doorway to led Ed and Kairi inside.

"The kitchen's right over there," Kairi pointed to the doorway. "I'll let fill up the bottles if you let me play with your watch." She giggled, and he sighed, handing her the watch that was his proof of being a State Alchemist. She ran her fingers down the front before she set it down next to a stack of mail on one of the tables on either side of the door.

_**I don't want to lose your face  
And I don't want to wake up one day and not remember what time erased  
I don't want to turn around  
Cause I'm not scared of what love gave me and took away  
And I don't want to lose your face**_

_Of course none of the lights work,_ she thought. _I'm going to have to use Mommy's candles tonight._ She glanced over at the television set. It had been broken for years even before she left. The stack of mail was on the left table, under the mail slot (not that they got mail that often), and the table opposite it was barren other than a thick layer of dust. Flipping through the mail, she discovered people had been looking for her father, but no one had ever wondered where she was. She figured they thought her father had run off and taken her with him.

Stepping around the pile of bones, glancing at the couch. How many times had her mother lay her down there when she was ill. A mouse skittered by her foot.

"I can't feed you," Kairi announced apologetically from the doorway. "I haven't been home in five years, so the only thing that would be edible is the orange tree in the backyard, and I doubt it survived." She went to check on it, and it turned out it actually had, so she picked them some oranges while Ed buried the bones.

_**That girl in the song had it so good  
I wish I could close my eyes and see you  
I wish the sky had your face  
And the oceans had your eyes  
And the sunset had your lips  
And I had you**_

"Well." That was all Ed said for a moment. They were standing on the porch. She hated good-byes; they were so awkward.

"Well." She smiled. "Thanks for taking me all the way out here." She paused. "You're going to come back and see me sometimes, right?"

"We'', I visit all my friends," Ed replied, a half smile glued to his face. "Speaking of that, I should go see Winry. She'll want to look at my automail."

She ignored that part about the Winry girl. "I'm pretty sure I'm selling this house anyway. I don't want to live in the middle of nowhere."

_**Oh-oh yeah  
I don't want to lose your face  
And I don't want to wake up one day and not remember what time erased  
I don't want to turn around  
Cause I'm not scared of what love gave me and took away  
And I don't want to lose your face**_

_**Oh no, no, no**_

"That's good."

"Bye, Kairi!" Al announced from ten feet away.

"Bye, Kairi," Ed said.

She smiled. "Bye."

Ed turned, to to the last step, and walked back. He pressed his lips to her's for three seconds before for three seconds before he blushed, turned, and ran down the road with Al. She was laughing.

_**I don't wanna lose your face  
I don't wanna turn around  
Oh, oh yeah  
Oh, oh oh  
Oh, oh oh  
Oh, oh oh yeah**_

**With Travis? Wait? Wtf? Why are we checking up on him? Why do we caaaaaaare???**

He'd seen him with his own eyes, but he was going by horse, so he couldn't keep up. Those damn Elric brothers passed him on the way, slowing him down; he had to hide in the bushes while he waited for them to go by and get out of sight. What a relief! Kairi would be there, too. They'd meet. It would be perfect. He'd just grab Kairi and they'd catch up, then he'd come home, and Kairi would love him. Travis smiled. He couldn't wait! He just had to catch up to his brother...

**Aghhh!!! Creepy Travis!! What's gonna happen? I bet you'd find out if all you lazies would review. =]**


	14. Nobody's Fearless

**Ughhh!!! My internet frikken died again!!! How frustrating. :( And I already had this chapter writtennnn!!! :( Grrr. Anywhooo. this chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer, who happens to be a close, personal friend of mine, but for the life of me I can't remember her penname... just that it had "carni" in it. lol. anywayy, be forewarned, this chapter will probably be slightly over-dramatic since i am a suckish author. =D Plus it will take foreverzz for it to get posted cuz my internet is dead!! aghh!!! Thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story thus far, considering its not very good. -hangs head- anyway, heres the chapter. =]**

**With Kairi...**

Kairi was still reeling from that surprise kiss Ed had planted on her. He'd been gone nearly an hour and she still couldn't quit blushing. This was exceedingly frustrating, considering she hardly ever did it before, but now she couldn't stop. She had started cleaning up the house, since it desperately needed it, but she hadn't even been upstairs yet.

There were so many things to remember. Her father wasn't in many of her earliest memories, since he'd hardly been home. She was about to dust off the tables on either side of the door when she discovered Ed's pocketwatch was still there. _He must have forgotten he let me play with it. I forgot I put it behind the mail._ She smiled and put the watch in the drawer. _At least now he _has_ to come back._

Turning around, she picked up the stack of mail and set it on the living room coffee table. She had no idea what to do with the Transmutation Circle painted on the floor.

A noise made her turn her head. It sounded like a horse's whinny, almost, but when she stuck her head outside, she didn't see anything. However, the moment she turned around and closed the door, something metal with a cold aura was shoved in her face, and a man said, "I don't want any trouble."

_Ohmigod, that explains it._ She couldn't help but laugh. _I'm _dreaming._ That's why I thought Ed kissed me. I'll wake up any moment now._

"Stop laughing! Are you crazy?" She looked up at his face. His hair was a shade of light, light brown. He had 5 o'clock shadow on his cheeks **Ewie!!!**, and he was tall, looked about seventeen. It was his eyes that caught her; she'd only seen them once before. Implanted on the face of a boy who had loved her. The same ghostly, moonlight-like eyes that she had stared into on so many occasions.

Pinching her arm, she came to the sudden realization that it wasn't a dream, that the gun in her face was very real, as much as the man in front of her. She was afraid.

"Here's a crazy idea," Kairi leaned against the door, trying to put as much space between them as possible. "If you don't want any trouble, why don't you leave?" She stared at his eyes, her stomach starting to hurt. _I can lie all I want. He knows I'm scared._ To tell the truth, she was terrified. She'd never had a gun this close to her before. The closest she'd ever been to one at all was when that Ishvalan was about to fire one at the military people just before Sal was killed.

"Just tell me where everything valuable is, and I'll leave. No trouble at all."

"There's nothing valuable here," she restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Her only consolence was that this robber was obviously completely inexperienced. "I haven't been home for years." _Figures. I'm home once in five years and I get robbed._

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

"I'm not lying," she replied.

"Tell the truth!"

"My mom kept a jewelry box on her dresser. Upstairs, second door on the left." She saw him glancing between her and the stairs, the gun shaking in his hand. "I'm not gonna run." She gestured in every direction. "Where am I gonna go?"

"Just get on the floor," he answered. "Don't move or I'll kill you."

She got down on her stomach. The second he turned the corner, she reached up, opened the drawer, and grabbed Ed's watch. Closing the drawer silently, she lay back down on her stomach. She couldn't let him take it. Hearing his angry footsteps, she remembered too late that her father had sold everything in that box.

The man returned. "It was empty, you lying bitch!" **Well, that's not very nice at all, now is it?**

"I never said it had anything in it!" She yelled from the floor. She kept her gaze on her hands. Her heart was beating quickly. Would he shoot her? Woul Ed returned to find her body?

"Let me rephrase the sentence," he spat on the carpet. "Where. Is. The. Valuable. Shit."

"I don't have anything!"

"Where are your damn parents?"

"They're dead." The rug was giving her a rash, Ed's watch was starting to hurt her stomach, and she could practically feel the man's glare burning a hole into her back. _Why won't he leave?_

"That's a bunch of shit!" He was shouting. "Tell the damn truth!"

"I'm not lying!"

He paced back and forth in front of her. His eyes caught the light. "You can't have _nothing_!" He yelled. "There's got to be _something_!"

"My dad had a State Alchemist's pocketwatch," she mumbled. "It's in his room somewhere."

"Don't move," he commanded. She could hear him thrashing around in her parents' room. She shifted the watch so she could lay on it more comfortably.

When he came back, he started pacing and mumbling prices that the watch might go for. She asked, "That's it, are you going to leave now?"

"Leave me alone, kid."

"My _name_ is Kairi." She looked at the floor. _Quit mouthing off._ She ordered herself. _Do you _want_ him to kill you?_

"I'm Stefan. Now that we're aquainted, shut the fuck up." He continued inspecting it. _Wow, he has a pottymouth. He's cussing like a sailor. What's with his eyes? Why won't he leave? I wouldn't mind Ed discovering his watch is missing right about now._

She stared at the floor until he asked, "Do you have anything else?"

"No. So shoot me or get out." She was trying to sound brave, but he could tell she was afraid.

_"Nobody's fearless."_ Her father's voice was in her head.

"Watch your mouth, you little brat," his voice was gruff, like he hadn't had any water. "Anything else?"

"No."

"I think you're lying. Don't move." He walked into the kitchen. She heard him pour a glass of water, drink it, and throw the cup to the ground with a crash and the sound of glass breaking. She shuddered and listened to him thrash throught the kitchen. He came out and started running around the first floor, knocking over things, breaking them, laughing the entire time. _Is this how crazy people vent their anger?_ He apparently didn't want to bother with the second, because there were only three rooms up there (her parents', which he'd already destroyed, the bathroom, and her room. He used his foot to force her to cral away from the door, growled deep in his throught, mumbled, "Eat your vegetables" and left.

She was gasping for breath and her heart was thudding. Clutching Ed's pocketwatch in one hand, she to the sound of the horse, which was probably stolen, trot around the house and continue down the backroad behind it. Stille panting, she crawled to the stairs, half sat down and half lay down on her side, burying her face in her knees. She started to cry.

**With Our Dearest Edward and His Simply Lovely Brother Alphonse...**

The sun was at its highest point in the sky when Ed realized he'd left his watch. "Awww man," he mumbled. "Al, we have to go back. She still has my watch."

"You just want an excuse, Brother."

"Nuh-uh! I forgot I let her see it!"

"Yeah, right, I saw you kiss her!"

"Aaaaal!!!"

**With Kairi... Amazing... I Never Thought I'd Wind Up Making Her Cry... Aren't I Cruel? Anyway...**

Her tears had long since stopped, but she kept hearing voices in her head.

_"Serenity!"_ Her dad had screamed it once.

_"Serenity."_ Her mother said it calmly, like she was answering a question.

_"Serenity?"_ She'd only said it once when she was little, like a question.

_"Serenity. Serenity. Serenity."_ So many people said it, in different tones of voices.

_I should know what it means. I should know! Why can't I remember?_ A knot of frustration tied itself in her throat.

_"Kairi quit it don't run away it's nothing to be afraid of Alkamimes do to cry your father is lying it's alright nightmares aren't for real I love you it's Friday today happy birthday I love you every day and twice on Sunday how many times have I told you no you have to eat today careful of the stairs are you cold daddy will be home soon no he's just not alive he was never born correctly don't lie to me stop doing that it's an awful habit is the bath water too cold if you keep making faces your face will freeze like that it's called snow just one minute honey the TV broke last night why are you afraid of the water daddy's on the phone he wants to talk to you Kairi be nice why don't you like our house do you want to see how me and daddy painted your room well it's true and I wouldn't lie to you watch the meteor shower with me you can't run away there's nowhere to go don't eat that stop it you'll hurt yourself Kairi I'll tell daddy on you boys have cooties but you love vegetables there's no monster in the closet you can sleep in my bed but only for tonight maybe tomorrow don't play in the toilet grandma's going to come and visit in a week Serenity."_ As her mother's voice flashes through her head, words she'd said to Kairi mercilessly flashing behind her closed eyelids, she knew what Serenity meant.

She jumped when the door banged open. Expecting Ed, she stood up and relaxed. That is, until she realized it was Travis.

"Kairi? Where is he?" He yelled.

With a sharp intake of breath, she turned and ran up the stairs, took a right, and tried to lock the door to her bedroom behind her. She wasn't fast enough.

**Here is where I end the story! Okay, okay, I'll make this chapter longer... but the pointy objects away please...**

**Since I Don't Want To Go Into Gruesome Detail And You Can Probably Guess What Happened Next...**

Kairi was curled into a ball on the floor, her eyes closed, her breathing uneven. She'd gotten into a position she used to be in when she was little; her knees were bent up to her elbows, her hands clutching her feet. He was sitting on her childhood bed. The sheets were white, the pillow was white, and the thin blanket was light blue. He reached up and wiped some blood off his lip. She'd never actually hit him back before, but her fist had made a solid connection with the lower left corner of his lip. It was going to bruise. He sighed.

"I'm sorry," he announced, his voice low and clear. "I've just been looking for him for so long, and I let my feelings out on you when I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." He'd never actually apologized before, which was a feat in itself, and though she didn't move from her spot on the floor, he knew she was concious. "I'm sorry." His eyes stared at her. "It's just- when my dad- he- he wasn't a good person. I know that now. I just realized... what I've done is wrong, and I'm sorry."

She still didn't move her body, and her breathing stayed the same, but her hazel eys slowly opened, and they remained on him.

_"Nobody's fearless."_ They were the most words of wisdom her father had ever said to her.

"When I was young, my dad- he- used to hit my mom. And my brother, Stefan. But he never hit me. Ever. Mom died, though. It was sudden. I didn't even know she'd been sick. But she did die, and Stefan ran away." He put his chin in his hands and stared at her. "So I went to look for him. I- I wasn't planning on stay with them that- that long. But then you came. And I realized I loved you too much to leave right then. I- I still do."

She closed her eyes. Blood ran from a cut on her cheek, and her mouth had that metallic tang in it. She could already feel bruises forming. She didn't want to hear him preach his love for her. She wanted him to leave. She could tell when he knelt beside her because she could hear the floorboards creaking. A feeling of repulse rose in her stomach; he had no right to be in her home.

"I'm sorry, Kairi," he whispered, clutching her hand in his. "I'm really, really sorry. Can you forgive me? Please?"

She pried his fingers from her hand and rolled over, her back to him. The floor creaked eerily under each of his footfalls, until his legs had carried him from the room. Her eyes surveyed the room from her spot on the floor, facing the wall opposite the door. He'd destroyed it. The entire room was thrashed. She tried to slow her breathing, but her lungs, as usual, wouldn't listen to her brain.

_"Nobody's fearless."_ She felt like she should be crying, but, try as she might, the tears wouldn't come.

**The eeeeendddd!! Please review, even though this is really late. DX Also check the photobucket, I drew a pretty picture of Kairi (please excuse my awful anime drawing.) But the picture is there... review!!!**


	15. Revelation Of Serenity

**Ughhh this took forever cuz I typed it with my wrist brace on (my wrist is hurting again). plus something awful happened to me during my MRI. idk why they made me get one, but they suck. like im not even claustrophobic and i was about to start hyperventilating. those things are awful. =[ a while back i was running in the rain (cuz i love to do that, dont ask why) and I did almost a somersault in the air, landed sort of sideways on my wrist. its still hurting like a month later, and we get these xrays done (they suck) and i fractured my wrist, but we had to get an mri done and i dont no why because nobodys telling me anything!!! XD lol.**

**With Ed...**

"Shouldn't we knock, Brother?" Al asked sheepishly.

"She's not going to care," Ed rolled his eyes, opening the door just in time to see Travis coming down the stairs, blood running from his lip. All three of them froze for a few seconds, comprehending, before Ed, taking in Travis's rustled appearance and lip, ran forward and shoved the taller boy onto his back against the stairs.

"Augh!"

"Where is she?"

"She's in her room. Farthest to the right." He braced himself to be punched, but Ed ran up the stairs instead. Al was blocking the door, but he wasn't going to leave.

When Ed entered the room, he took in the dresser with piles of fairy tale books on it, papers sprawled on the floor as if she'd tried to grab one of the books and throw it at him but the book had fallen apart, the full-length mirror with a spider-web crack on it, as if someone had been thrown against it. One of the shelves was knocked down, another halfway off its hinges. The walls were painted a million different shades of blue, from sky to cobalt to indigo. In contrast to the dark tones on the wall across from the bed, someone had painted in orange: "Nothing about me is original. I am the combined effort of every person I've ever known." His stomach hit the floor when he saw her curled in a ball on the ground.

Kneeling beside her, he brushed his fingers lightly over her tattoo. "Kairi?"

At the sound of his voice, her eyes opened slowly, her unsteady breathing becoming more even. "Ed?" Her voice was dry and it caught in her throat. He helped her to a standing position. There was a cut on her left cheek that was bleeding down to her chin, and several bruises on her exposed arms and legs. There were four scratches on the outside of her left thigh, as if he'd tried to grab her leg and his nails had left bloody impressions on her skin. Most of the bruises and scrapes were on her left side.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

She nodded, stumbled to the bed, and sat down. She put her hand on her knees and stared at them. Her left knee was covered in blood, and one of her ribs was aching.

"Are you sure? You're bleeding everywhere."

"I'm fine, Ed, I'm fine." She was lying. "Just throw him out. If he's still here, I want him to go." Ed left the room, and she could hear him scrabbling downstairs with Travis. ("I won't leave! I'm going to clean her up! Let me help her!") **How pathetic. =D I've decided I don't like him. =]** Ed finally seemed to get him out the door, because she heard it slam. She tucked her hair behind her ear, glanced in the broken mirror, and saw her hair was sticking up in several places. Flattening it out so it looked somewhat normal, she clutched her tattoo.

_Serenity._

All that time, _that_ was what it had meant. She couldn't believe she hadn't remembered it before.

Ed returned a moment later with a warm, damp washcloth, and he sat next to her. Handing her the washcloth, he said, "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," she scrabbled at the bandage on her left arm from when she'd fallen on top of the broken glass. It had dried out and it was itching, not to mention it was already halfway off thanks to Travis dragging her across the floor by her left forearm. Once it was loose, she tossed it to the floor. The cut on her arm was halfway healed. Using the washcloth, she started to wash the blood away from her cheek.

"Kairi?"

She turned to him, her hazel eyes lit with too many emotions to begin sorting them all out. "Ed?"

"What happened to the rest of the house?"

She laughed lightly and started to wipe off the marks on the outside of her thigh. She'd gotten blood on the bed. Her laughter apparently came as a shock to Ed. "Travis's brother shows up. Gun in my face. Takes my dad's military watch. Knocks a bunch of crap over, tells me to eat my vegetables, and leaves." She moved to her bloody knee, which had gotten cut up when he'd been dragging her across the floor. They didn't speak for a moment. She dropped the washcloth onto the floor and looked at her tattoo. She didn't want to look at anything else, didn't want to think about anything else. She'd wanted to know so badly, and now she knew.

"Do you know what it means?" Ed asked, his golden eyes on the back of her head, noticing some blood that was drying in the center of her white blond hair. She must have hit her head somewhere. The main reason he was asking was because she seemed to be thinking about it a lot, and her eyes were fixed onto it. He closed his real hand gently around her bruised right wrist, which was swelling, so he didn't squeeze it.

"Yes, I did," the slight smile on her face faded. "I know what 'serenity' means."

They were quiet, and all they heard for a moment was Al shuffling downstairs. _He wants to know. He wants to know as badly as I did. But he won't make me tell._ She turned to him, chewing the inside of her right cheek. She would have on the left side, but she'd already bitten it, hence the metallic tang of blood inside her mouth.

His amber eyes were locked on her's, and she reluctantly whispered, "Serenity was my mother's name."

After that, they didn't say anything for a few minutes, and Ed picked up the washcloth so he could gently clean the wound on the back of her head. She bit her lower lip and sighed. He made everything seem better.

When he'd set the washcloth down, he wrapped an arm around her lightly, and she rested her head on his chest. They sat like that for a few moments without a word, until she sat up, kissed him quickly, and announced, "I'm going to take a shower."

He nodded and watched her go. It was odd for her to take a shower instead of a bath, but he figured she'd rather wash off the remainder of the blood than sit in it. When he left the room, he walked by the closed bathroom door and glanced in what he guessed to be her parents' room. It was, of course, destroyed. Outside the room, there was a light switch. Flicking it on, he discovered that the only light that hadn't burned out was connected to it. It was about four feet away from the edge of the banister, and it had something inside of it, but he figured it was just a dead moth and turned the light back off.

Al was waiting downstairs, and, if it's possible for a suit of armor to do this, he would've grimaced. "She okay?"

"Yeah. The room took most of the damage."

"Where's she at?"

"Taking a shower."

They were quiet for a moment, and Ed sat down on the couch, his eyes on the Transmutation Circle in the center of the living room. He tried to forget what he'd just seen; Kairi, her eyeliner running, bleeding, bruised, in pain. He hated it. He hated to see her that way. _That Travis bastard had better be far from here because I think I'm about to run after him._

"Serenity was her mother's name," Ed said, and Al didn't reply.

**Later That Day...**

Kairi came out of the shower looking much better. Her eyeliner was back in place and her hair was shorter. She'd found a pair of scissors in the bathroom and cut it from her elbows to three inches below her shoulders, and took a bit more off of her bangs so that at their lowest they were just below her eyebrow.

She sat on the couch next to Ed, a half smile on her face. "Are you leaving soon?"

"Yes," he replied.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Al joked, and he walked up the stairs so they could be alone.

"I want you to come with me," he said. "I don't want to leave you alone, especially if he comes back. I could just take you to Teacher's."

She nodded. "I don't want to be here alone." Then she paused. "I want to sell it. I'll get a house somewhere else."

"Where do you think you should move to?"

"Risembool," she teased.

"Not funny," he replied. "Then you _and_ Winry would probably attack me with a wrench every time I come back."

Sting. What was with this Winry girl anyhow? Al had said she was Ed's girlfriend, but the way Ed reacted, she was pretty sure he was a friend he really liked. Feeling slightly threatened, she rubbed her tattoo. _I used to do that for luck._ It felt incredibly good to be able to remember. All the gaps had been filled in, everything was remembered. Things her mother and father used to say were implanted in her head. Sal had been incredibly devoted to her because of the death of his own daughter. She wasn't too poor at alchemy, but she couldn't get a lot of it right. She was, overall, completely average. Average in looks, average in skills. She was small like her mother, she got her hate of food from her mother, she got her bitterness and ease at lying from her father.

She almost laughed. It was her mother's fault she was completely flat-chested.

Ed caught that funny look in her eyes, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Just... funny stuff my mom used to say."

"Oh," Ed rested his chin in his good hand. She couldn't help but smile. _He is just too cute._

She was caught off-gaurd when he stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Well, Al probably thinks we're going to perform unspeakable acts on your couch, so I'm going to convince him otherwise." He left, and she laughed.

She finally knew what "serenity" had meant all this time, she finally remembered everything (except what had caused the memory loss itself), but it was something she remembered that was bothering her. That feeling of unease she'd always felt when they spoke of her unborn brother. His grave was in the corner of the yard. She could feel in her throat, that feeling that had always been there when she thought about it. She'd always known his death was deeper than her mother was saying, but she'd never asked.

**Unspeakable acts on the couch. XD omg lol. Thanks for reading! make sure you check the photobucket for new pictures!! and REVIEW!!!**


	16. The Grave

**Hasn't been too long... I think... haha. Anyway, I got like one review last time. :( Grrr.**

Kairi had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, but she knew from experience that if she just forgot about it, she wouldn't be bothered by it anymore. Ed did plenty to distract by being affectionate at random times, and she kept herself busy picking up the living room, blowing years of dust off of various surfaces. Ed got hungry later on, so she gave him an orange, seeing as she didn't have anything else.

"You never eat," he told her while eating one orange as she peeled him another one. He was on the couch on one side of the coffee table and she sat across from him on the floor.

"I do to," she argued, half a smile on her face.

"You'd get bigger if you ate more."

"You're one to talk. Drink your milk!"

"Milk is gross!"

"_Food_ is gross."

"You've got to like _some_ foods."

She handed him the orange she'd just peeled and started work on another one. "I like oranges; they're okay. And stawberries are good, too. I like mushy fruit, the kind with lots of juice in it." She paused, gathering the peels together to start peeling the last one. "But they're all seasonal, and I'm hardly ever hungry."

"No excuse right now," he spoke matter-of-factly. "Eat that orange."

"Don't tell me what to do," she snapped, but she started eating it anyway. He had that effect on her; it was difficult to argue with him.

"There's not much to do here," Ed commented after he finished his orange. "How did you _survive_ when you were little?"

"I watch the TV a lot before it broke," she nibbled on her fruit, "and after that, I would just read the fairytale books my mom got me. Over and over again." She finished the orange and wiped her hands off on a rag. "She kept this place really clean. But my dad never cleaned it. He wouldn't even pick up the garbage can if he knocked it over."

Ed appeared to be listening, his amber eyes intent, chin in one hand. It made it hard to concentrate on what she was saying.

"He wasn't mean, though. Just bitter. And he concentrated on work a lot. He was home more after she died, but he just concentrated on his equations and stuff." She then mused about how she and her mother would put the orange peels under the orange tree for compost. After a while, her voice trailed off. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No." But he kept staring.

She giggled.

**Well, after that, around noon, I might say...**

There were still many oranges on the giant orange tree in the backyard (about ten feet from the backroad), so Ed, who was hungry again, went out to get some more. Al followed him outside. Kairi, finally alone, walked up the stairs and into her childhood bedroom.

The room was still destroyed, so she tried to clean it up. Clapping her hands together and pressing them to the wall, she repaired the broken shelves and the book she'd thrown at Travis. She closed her eyes. It was almost funny to her now (she never knew where she got her insane sense of humore from, but her mother had said it was her grandmother's); him tossing her around the room like a ragdoll, her cussing like a sailor and attempting to get away.

Shaking her head slightly, she went to make the bed. It still had some blood on it, but she straightened out the sheets anway. Using alchemy, she fixed a clock he'd knocked over and glanced around the room. Clap, the spiderweb crack on the mirror disappeared, and she put the stack of children's books on her newly-fixed shelf.

_"What does it say, mommy?"_

_"It says that you're not original."_

_"What? Why can't I be?"_

_"Nothing about you is original. You're an effort from people that know you."_

_"I am?"_

_"Of course you are."_

_"You mean you and daddy? And James?"_

She'd never gone through her parents' room before, never went through thier things, never even thought about it, really. (Not that she was an angel.) But she wanted to know about James's death, and it was the only way she could think of.

She tip-toed into her parents' room. _Oh, quit it. Mother's not going to come around the corner and catch you._ She glanced around, checking the inside of the closet. She found a large box full of papers, but they were nothing more than military records that belonged to her father. Her mother had a shoebox full of pictures on the top shelf, though. **I know they don't have shoeboxes, but that's just the size of the box. ya know?** Curious, she stepped over a shattered lamp and sat on the unmade bed.

Typical family photos, she guessed, and she could remember all of them being taken. There was one of her sitting on top of her father's shoulders, one of her mother sitting below the orange tree, reading a book, while Kairi had a field day with the camera. Toward the bottom of the box were older pictures, she guessed, because she didn't remember any of them. There was a picture of her as a baby, lying in her crib, her nose wrinkled up. The next few were pictures from her parents' wedding.

One of her mother at some sort of beach, her dress hiked up and her ankles in the water, another of a small flower girl being chased by a ring-bearer. The next was a shot from a distance, a mingle of grandparents, military men, and children, from suits to dresses to blue uniforms. _It was a beautiful wedding._ The last wedding picture was of her father holding her mother bridal style, her dress flowing in the gentle breeze. She didn't recognize anyone in any of the pictures except for them. She shook her head.

When she picked up the last picture in the bottom of the box, her heart nearly stopped. It definetely skipped a beat.

It was her mother, sitting on the very bed she sat on at that exact moment. She had her white-blond hair pulled back into its rare french braid. Her brown eyes were bright and there was a smile on her face. Kairi had never seen her that happy before. But it wasn't that that bothered her. It was the little boy that was about as high as her knees, his brown eyes filled with wonder, hand pressed against Serenity's swollen, pregnant stomach. A tussle of white hair was on the top of his head.

She didn't move, couldn't register anything, for about a minute. When she heard Ed and Al moving around in the kitchen, she snapped out of it. Setting the old photograph back in its box, she got up slowly. She felt light-headed. Running down the stairs three at a time, she sped around the corner and out the back door. Luckily Ed didn't seem to have heard her; she didn't want to hear his questions.

_The grave. The grave._ She tore across the yellow lawn and opened the shed. The robber must have gotten there first, looking for anything valuable, but there really wasn't much. The gardening tools were splayed out everywhere, and when she pulled the shovel out, the rake scratched her swollen right wrist. She ignored the small stream of blood trickling down her wrist and bolted to the opposite corner of the yard, skidding on a fallen orange, and sliding to a halt in front of the grave. The name on the gravestone nearly blinded her.

It took fifteen minutes before she hit the wooden chest. Brushing the top with her fingers, she ran her hands over the design on top of it. A teddy bear. Her breath caught in her throat and there was a weight in her stomach. She flipped the lid open, quick and painful, like a bandaid. She stared down, wide-eyed, then stumbed a few feet away and heaved.

It was rare for her to get upset enough to throw up, but it happened to her a few times. The only other time she'd gotten this upset since her memory loss was that time she'd hurled in the bathroom at Izumi's house. She prayed Ed wouldn't come this time; there was no way she wanted to explain the open grave behind her.

_It's empty._ She wiped her mouth. _Empty._

She heard the back door open, and she could tell it was Ed hurrying toward her because of his footsteps; one was hollower than the other. _Damn it. Everytime I get a little bruised up he comes running._

"Kairi-?" She heard his sharp intake of breath, but she was too busy spitting up to pay attention. When she appeared to be finished, he asked, "What's going on, Kairi?"

She didn't answer. Wiped her mouth with her hands and coughing, she turned, jogged away from him, past Al, and into the house. Once she reached the bathroom, she closed the door and locked it.

**Whoaaa wait a minute. I bet Ed's confused, huh?**

"What's going on, Kairi?"

But she left him standing there, clueless. Why had she dug up an empty chest? He glanced at the gravestone. It read, "James Alkamime" but nothing else. He could tell from the writing and the sides of it that it was made with alchemy. He slowly started walking toward the house.

"What's going on here, Brother?"

"I don't know, Al," he replied, hands in his pockets.

The hazel eyes stared back at her, the white-blond hair mocking her; never had a mirror shown what she truly felt, and the grief-sticken face- so like her mother's- couldn't reflect the heaviness in her heart that seemed to weigh down her very soul. Sitting on the floor, she hugged her knees to her chest. _How could they have lied to me like that?_ She couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. _But where's James at?_

She'd only had a few memories from before she turned one (her first birthday was her first, crystal-clear memory, and the rest were all hazy), which James wasn't in. So he had to have been gone for at least fourteen years. Her heart thudded. A lot could happen in fourteen years. He must've been alive, though; if he'd been dead, they would've just buried him in the backyard like they'd always said they had. So where could he be.

Standing up, she fixed her eyeliner (it had started to run when she'd been vomiting). She brushed her teeth vigorously until her gums almost bled. She stretched until every bone in her body had popped and her mind was more at ease. She left the bathroom.

Ed and Al were just coming in from outside and his golden eyes found her sitting about halfway up the stairs. Al took a hint and walked into the kitchen, while Ed walked up the stairs and sat next to her.

"What's the box in the back for?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, and just when he thought she wasn't going to answer, she said, "It was supposed to be a grave."

Taken aback by her monotonous tone, he replied, "Where's the body?"

"I don't know." She rested her elbows on her knees and her forehead on her palms.

"Who's supposed to be in it?"

"My brother, James."

"How'd you know it was empty?"

"I didn't."

"You know," he finally announced irritably. "It's hard for me to help you when I don't know what's wrong."

Nothing was said for a few minutes. Neither of them moved, and Al, who was eavesdropping, would've held his breath if his current state had allowed it. She chewed her lower lip, the inside of her right cheek, traced the letters of the tattoo on her arm. _Where could he be?_

**Whooo!!! ive already got a lot of this written down, I just have to type it out. there are going to be three more chapters, tops, people. but there are at least two. reviewww!!! :D**


	17. Shaken To the Core

**Second to last chapter!! :D: That face means I'm happy and sad. It's a little long, and Kairi's being emo in some places. Anyway, just read it.**

Ed gave an exasperated sigh and got up to leave, but she grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to a sitting postion.

"You're bleeding," he frowned. She hadn't really acknowledged the cut on her wrist until he said something, but it had almost stopped anyway.

Shrugging it off, she took a deep breath. "My mom always told me that my brother, James, was a stillborn." Ed nodded. "But I was going through some of her old pictures and there's a photo of him with her when she was pregnant with me."

"Are you sure it wasn't her nephew or something?"

"My parents were both only-children. And he had her hair and eyes," she snapped. "It was him." Shaking her head, she went on. "He looked about one or two years old in the picture, and he was definetely alive. So I ran outside and dug up the grave he was supposed to be in. He's obviously not there."

"Any idea where he is?"

"Maybe my grandmother's," the idea brought her some relief. "But I have no idea where she is."

"It's better than the alternative."

"But why would they lie to me about something like that?" Her voice shook, and she was having trouble keeping it at a normal volume. "Why did they tell me he was dead when he obviously wasn't?"

He wrapped an arm reassuringly around her shoulders, planting a kiss on the top of her head. He breathed in the scent of her hair (like rain...) before he announced, "Some things you're just better off not knowing."

**I think Ed's out of character, but he doesn't really like girls that much in the anime anyway. So later that night...**

That night, Kairi walked dreadingly up the stairs and into her parents' room. Standing on her tip-toes, she grabbed the edge of a pile of blankets and pulled (she was too short to pick them up). Realizing her mistake a moment too late, they came tumbling down on top of her. The dark blue plaid blanket she'd lay on with her mother and watched the meteor showers and made wishes on every star in the sky was still there, still soft as the day she'd first lay eyes on it. She picked up the pullows off the floor (she still hadn't cleaned the room up) and traveled back down the stairs.

"She returns," Ed smiled, and she could feel her heart speed up.

Rolling her eyes and unable to stop a blush from creeping its way across her cheeks, she tossed several blankets at him before laying the other out for herself, the plaid one underneath her.

"Why aren't you sleeping in your bed?" Al inquired.

She glanced at the stairs. "There's a monster under there." They both chuckled, and she never gave them a straight answer.

Unfortunately for her, whilst Ed fell asleep after the first half hour (he was probably waiting for her to because he talked to A at night), her insomniatic sighed, inherited from the Blood Alchemist himself, kicked in and she found herself having "one of those nights." The kinds where the few timesshe fell asleep, she was being chased byflashes of color so bright they hurt her eyes and people whith upside-down faces that asked her the same questions over and over again.

Al was sitting on the couch, and Ed had pushed the coffee table to the opposite wall, against the TV, so that they were in seperate make-shift beds around the center of the floor, on top of the Transmutation Circle . At about one she gave a frustrated grunt, stood up, and stepped over Ed. Al seemed a bit surprised , but he didn't say anything when she sat on the couch opposite him. She leaned against the arm of the couch, arms crossed, legs folded under her. Her eyes rested on Ed, his form clearly visible in the light of the full moon, despite the clouds that were steadily forming outside.

She sighed inwardly. He was almost _too_ good. Every time she got hurt, he seemed to materialize. Kairi chewed her lip. She really did like him; this Winry girl had her worried, though. She didn't want to ask about her for fear of upsetting him. He wasn't fragile or anything, but she hated it when he got frustrated with her.

"Are you okay?" Al's voice nearly made her jump.

"Huh?"

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"I know how you feel."

She laughed lightly. "I've never seen you sleep. I don't even know what you look like."

He turned to her. "Oh." Lifting up his head, her eyes widened slightly when he revealed his empty insides.

"That explains a lot."

"That's why I don't sleep or eat or do anything like that."

"Mmm. Nights must be lonely."

"All the time." He sighed.

"I'm sorry." She felt so miserable. Was this how she'd alway felt? Empty as Al's armor? Her parents were dead, her brother was missing, and she'd been lost since she was eight years old. Why did her life go on? What did she keep breathing for?

"Are you okay?"

She hadn't realized it, but her eyes had filled with tears, her vision blurring, and they were running down her face. "I'm fine, Al." He saw through the lie, she knew, but she wiped her cheeks and tried to fix her smeared eyeliner.

"Why are you crying, then?" His echoey voice was soft.

She took a deep breath, and her voice was shaking the way it did when she had trouble controlling its volume. "Life's a prison, Al."

There was a pause. "Well, that's depressing. Why are you thinking like that?"

"I don't know. Stupid shit."

They didn't say anything for almost an hour, during which Kairi dozed off and woke up again, and Al finally said, "A long time ago, Ed and I wanted our mother back after she died. We tried to get her back, the same way your father did, but Ed lost his leg in exchange, and I lost my entire body. It wasn't even her, and it died anyway. But he gave his arm to transmute my soul to this armor. He saved me, and we need the Philosopher's Stone in order to get out bodies back."

"He's really brave." She heard Al snicker softly at the loving look that crossed her eyes. She settled her hazel gaze on his sleeping form. He'd taken off his black overcoat and his upper half wasn't under the blankets. He was laying on his stomach and somehow he'd managed to get his pillow down by his feet. He appeared to be looking for it, because his metal arm was moving around, and his flesh arm twitched. She finally dropped the pillow next to his arm, and when he reached for it, his metal arm painfully brushed the scratch on her right wrist.

Noting her sharp intake of breath, Al volunteered, "You should probably clean that up."

"I'm too lazy," she replied, sitting back down.

"Oh." He paused, trying to think of something to say.

She fell into a light sleep and woke up again at four. Al didn't realize she'd woken up because she didn't open her eyes, so he was caught off-gaurd when she announced, "Pisses me off." Her neck hurt, and she'd been sleeping all bent out of shape.

"What?"

"I'm freaking tired and I keep waking up."

"Look on the bright side," Al remarked peevishly, "If you're tired enough, Brother will carry you."

"Oh, shut up," she laughed delicately, rolled over, curled up into a ball, and fell back asleep. She didn't wake up again until seven, and her back ached severely. Rubbing the sight back into her eyes with her palms, she opened her eyes to see Ed, on the opposite end of the couch, his amber eyes on her.

"Good morning."

She gave a half smile.

"You know, you talk in your sleep."

"What'd I say?"

"Something about food, and that you can't get out because it's all scripted."

She laughed, and they didn't say anything for a few minutes. "Augh! Quit staring at me! It's creepy!"

"Sorry," he pretended to be hurt, and she smiled before she ran upstairs to take a bath. When she was running she discovered that Ed had cleaned up her wrist.

Brushing her teeth extra hard and stretching profusely, she sighed. She was exhausted. _I'll tell Ed we can leave tomorrow instead. I'm way too tired._ Popping her ankle and finishing up her eyeliner, she walked down the stairs. The second she turned around the stairs, one arm of flesh and one arm of metal found their way around her waist. She half-laughed and set her hands on his upper arms.

"You're happy today," she commented.

"Oh, geez, I'm sorry," he replied. "I'll just be a jerk instead."

"Nah, I kinda like it."

**Well, anyway, with Al...**

Al was around the kitchen corner, watching them, but they were too caught up in each other to notice. Despite the possibilities of blackmail, Al was too nice of a brother, so he just decided to enjoy the show. He tried to stifle a laugh when his elder brother pressed his lips to Kairi's, his cheeks aflame. They were like that a few moment, her arms around his neck, his hands entangled in her hair. After a while, Al turned away. _Making out is gross. I'll never do it after I get my body back._ He checked to see if they were done (they weren't) and he probably would've turned green if a suit of armor could do that. _Never ever ever._

But he found it funny that his brother was flushing and she wasn't at all. _Well, he _is_ new to that, I guess._

**Anyway, about fifteen minutes after Kairi tells Ed that they're staying another night, placing them around 9:30 AM...**

Ed told her not to worry about the grave and that he and Al were going to take care of it. She smiled, but the second he was gone, she sat on the stairs, her chin resting in her hands.

_"I love you every day, and twice on Sundays."_

It was, ironically, a Sunday, and it was starting to drizzle outside. They would have to walk back in the rain if it was still raining the next day. _She did love me. There was a reason she lied about it._ She tried to push the thought of it from her head, but her mind wandered to its darkest places, and she just grew more and more depressed.

_"Nobody's fearless."_

There was such a cruel truth in it. _Nobody_ was fearless, and her least of all. She was afraid of water, afraid of snakes, afraid of being a humonculus (though it was clear she wasn't), afraid of losing Ed and Al. She was afraid to live, but she was afraid to die. And she wanted _something_, something she didn't know it was, but she needed something more. She played with the tips of her white blond hair. Her mother's hair, her father's eyes. _"Nothing about me is original. I am the combined effort of every person I've ever known."_ Why had Serenity painted that on her wall? What had it meant to her mother?

She tried to think of those fuzzy memories from before she turned one. They consisted of distorted, funny voices saying words she didn't understand. Except she heard her name, and it was the only clear word, and her mother was always there. She couldn't remember anything else. Frustration formed a knot in her throat. Never had she felt such a deep hatred of herself.

She'd never even really done anything on her own. She couldn't walk to her house by herself, couldn't get away from Travis, couldn't even swim. She felt so needy, so dependant. She hated that Ed always wanted to help her, but she knew she had no right to. She could only really justify hating herself.

_"You have to learn to play with the cards you are dealt."_

She couldn't remember who said that to her. It had been from before she was one. She squeezed her eyes shut. _Who said that?_ The image of a tall, heavy-set, middle-aged woman filled her head. Salt-and-pepper hair, just beginning to get crow's feet next to her eyes. _Grandma._ She could hear her grandmother saying it, but the message was not for her. She'd said it to Serenity. Kairi had been playing... playing... playing with... James? Mommy was crying, and then Grandma took James away; just got into her old car and left.

She breathed out and stood up, looking out the window. The sky was gray, a light rain was falling, and the road was so long she couldn't see the end of it. Opening the door, she stepped outside, off the porch, and let the water run over her skin, through her hair, soaking her right to the soul.

**Next chapter will be the last!! Agh!!! But I'll explain something else later, I can't do it here without revealing the end. Review!!!**


	18. Standing In the Rain::Story of Her Life

**Well, this is sort of the last chapter. I'll explain more at the end. XD Anyway, the song is Before the Storm, by Nick Jonas and Miley Cyrus. (I don't actually like the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus much, except I like Black Keys and Before the Storm.) So, before I bore you to death, read on. =]**

_**I know this isn't what I wanted  
Never thought it'd come this far  
Just thinking back to where we started  
And how we lost all that we are**_

After about ten minutes later, the sky really opened up, and it started to pour. She was still out there, letting the rain wash over her skin, and now that her bangs were wet they nearly touched her eyes. She never realized how much she loved the way her toes grew numb when she was cold enough. She blinked. She could see her breath, and the sun was trying to fights its way out from behind the clouds. She was completely drenched by then, but she didn't care.

The rain was thundering in her ears, so she didn't hear the door open. She did hear it close, and she heard Ed call, "Kairi! You're going to get a cold! Come inside!" And she obediantly turned and followed him into her house. He took her hand when she got to the top step and led her inside, closing the door behind him.

_**We were young and times were easy  
But I could see it's not the same  
I'm standing here, but you don't see me  
I'd give it all for that to change  
And I don't want to lose her  
I don't want to let her go**_

"What were you _doing_?"

She didn't say anything for a minute. "It's raining." As if that really explained it, but he didn't ask again. Leading her up the stairs, he took her into the bathroom and wrapped a towel around her.

"You're cold."

"I'm fine," she replied monotonously. "Stop worrying about me."

He wrapped both arms around her waist, pressing his forehead against her's. "You make it hard not to." A half smile crossed her lips and she rested her head on his shoulder, and he didn't seem to mind that the front of his shirt was getting a bit damp.

_**I'm standing out in the rain  
I need to know if its over  
Cause I will leave you alone**_

She walked downstairs, her fingers interlaced with his, and sat on the floor. He sat next to her, their backs against the coffee table, and followed her hazel eyes to the window. It was still pouring outside, and the wind was whipping around some straggly trees in the distance around. The gray skies cast shadows across the living room floor, and the sun had obviously lost its battle with the clouds.

"Where's Al at?"

"Probably spying on us."

"But he's such an angelic little guy."

"He's actually just a year younger than you."

"Oh."

_**Flooded with all this pain  
Knowing that I'll never hold her  
Like I did before the storm**_

There was silence for a few minutes, and then Ed asked, "So where do you want to go after we leave?"

She paused, resting her head on his strong shoulder, her eyes closed. "Find someone who wants to buy this house. Get a new one. Then find my brother."

"You have no idea where he is. Or what he even looks like by now."

"I know," she sighed. "It's a lost cause. But I have to try, don't I?"

"I guess you do." He paused. "Where do you plan on staying while you get your living arrangements worked out.

"Izumi's, if she'll have me. I hope Wrath's alright." Her brows creased slightly with concern, and her hazel eyes seemed distant, locked on the window, watching the rain. "I love the rain."

"I kinda noticed. You're pretty soaked."

_**And with every strike of lightning  
Comes a memory that lasts  
Not a word is left unspoken  
As the thunder starts to crash  
Maybe I should give up**_

She glanced at the kitchen doorway, then called, "Quit hiding, Al. I can tell you're there."

Al walked out sheepishly and sat on the couch. "Sorry."

She laughed lightly. "Uh-huh."

"It's really boring around here," Ed announced.

"Fix the TV," she replied.

_**I'm standing out in the rain  
I need to know if its over  
Cause I will leave you alone**_

"What's wrong with it?" Al asked.

"Something with the wiring, maybe? I don't know."

Ed didn't even bother to get up and look at it. "I have a friend you'll probably want to meet. Her name's Winry; I think you'd like her."

Sting. "Can't wait." There was that Winry girl again. The rain beat on the window even more violently, and she announced, "The last time it rained like this here was a week before my mom died. She had to run outside and get her book from under the orange tree." Her announcement was met with silence. "I'm going to go put the pictures away. I want to keep some of them."

She got up and left before Ed could tell her otherwise.

_**Flooded with all this pain  
Knowing that I'll never hold her  
Like I did before the storm**_

Once she was upstairs, she took the only picture of her brother and clutched it in one hand while she set the box of pictures back in the closet and closed the door. She tried not to look at it; she didn't want to worry anymore.

And as soon as she closed the door to her parents' room, what should catch her eye but the lightswitch next to it? She flicked it on, and it offered dim light. A shadow was cast across her arm by something inside it. She squinted. _It's still there?_ Amazed, she held the picture in one hand and used her other to support herself while she climbed over the rail. After making sure she had a firm footing, she held onto the banister with one hand and reached for the pen that was inside the light fixture; she'd gotten mad at her father once and had thrown his favorite pen into it because he was working too much.

_**Trying to keep the light from going in  
And the clouds from ripping out my broken heart  
We always say a heart is not whole  
Without the one who gets you through the storm  
**_

She was reaching, reaching, reaching... she almost had it... it was right there! Less than a centimeter away from her fingers. Just a little further! And that was when she lost her footing, and she felt the falling sensation in her stomach. She landed halfway on top of a table, and she knocked all the books off of it before she crashed to the floor. The photo had slipped out of her hand, and it fluttered lightly to the ground.

She had never felt a pain that deep within herself. She'd never been in that much physical pain, and it hurt so badly that she couldn't breathe, let alone speak. Ed had heard it, and he was around the corner in a split second, Al hot on his heels. "What-?"

He tried to pick her up, but she let out a small cry so he didn't move her. Her breathing was in quick, shallow gasps, and her hazel eyes were glazed with pain. "Okay, okay- uh- where does it hurt?"

She didn't respond, and her breathing was slowing. She writhed on the ground, and Al asked, "Brother, what's wrong with her?"**(1)**

_**Standing out in the rain  
Knowing that it's really over  
Please don't leave me alone**_

Ed started to lift up her tanktop, exposing her stomach, which she was covering with her arms. Al was about to call him a pervert, but when he pushed her arms off of her stomach, Al saw why. Her entire midriff was bruising, and it wasn't just a shade or two darker. It was indigo and deep purple and black, and the bruises were spreading impossibly quickly.

Ed's hands tightened into fists and he pulled her shirt back down. His voice came out dark: "There's nothing we can do, Al."

"But-"

"She's bleeding on the inside."

A small sound escaped her, like a grinding in her throat, and Al saw Ed's face streaked with emotional pain as her breathing slowly came to a stop, and her heart ceased beating.

_**I'm flooded with all this pain  
Knowing that I'll never hold you  
Like I did before the storm**_

It was two hours later, after the storm let up, and Ed and Al were standing outside in front of her freshly dug grave, right beside the fake one. Al tried not to say anything, and Ed's face was racked with grief. Unable to stand the silence any longer, Al asked, "Brother?"

"What, Al?"

"We should leave now."

"I know."

It took a few minutes for him to tear himself away from her resting place, but he finally turned and walked away, his brother beside him and the rest of a long journey ahead.

_**Like I did  
Before the storm**_

**(1) Her death itself was faster than it would have actually been, sorry. It was caused by internal bleeding, which was, more specifically, caused by her spleen rupturing when she hit a table.**

**Yes, I am a cruel, evil, heartless monster who enjoys killing her characters. XD**

**But I am going to write an alternate ending because I might be posting another story and Kairi would be a part of the plot. So the next chapter is an alternate ending, and the chapter after that is Deleted Scenes and Character Info. Review, and read the next chapters, please!**


	19. Alternate Ending

After about ten minutes later, the sky really opened up, and it started to pour. She was still out there, letting the rain wash over her skin, and now that her bangs were wet they nearly touched her eyes. She never realized how much she loved the way her toes grew numb when she was cold enough. She blinked. She could see her breath, and the sun was trying to fights its way out from behind the clouds. She was completely drenched by then, but she didn't care.

The rain was thundering in her ears, so she didn't hear the door open. She did hear it close, and she heard Ed call, "Kairi! You're going to get a cold! Come inside!" And she obediantly turned and followed him into her house. He took her hand when she got to the top step and led her inside, closing the door behind him.

"What were you _doing_?"

She didn't say anything for a minute. "It's raining." As if that really explained it, but he didn't ask again. Leading her up the stairs, he took her into the bathroom and wrapped a towel around her.

"You're cold."

"I'm fine," she replied monotonously. "Stop worrying about me."

He wrapped both arms around her waist, pressing his forehead against her's. "You make it hard not to." A half smile crossed her lips and she rested her head on his shoulder, and he didn't seem to mind that the front of his shirt was getting a bit damp.

She walked downstairs, her fingers interlaced with his, and sat on the floor. He sat next to her, their backs against the coffee table, and followed her hazel eyes to the window. It was still pouring outside, and the wind was whipping around some straggly trees in the distance around. The gray skies cast shadows across the living room floor, and the sun had obviously lost its battle with the clouds.

"Where's Al at?"

"Probably spying on us."

"But he's such an angelic little guy."

"He's actually just a year younger than you."

"Oh."

There was silence for a few minutes, and then Ed asked, "So where do you want to go after we leave?"

She paused, resting her head on his strong shoulder, her eyes closed. "Find someone who wants to buy this house. Get a new one. Then find my brother."

"You have no idea where he is. Or what he even looks like by now."

"I know," she sighed. "It's a lost cause. But I have to try, don't I?"

"I guess you do." He paused. "Where do you plan on staying while you get your living arrangements worked out.

"Izumi's, if she'll have me. I hope Wrath's alright." Her brows creased slightly with concern, and her hazel eyes seemed distant, locked on the window, watching the rain. "I love the rain."

"I kinda noticed. You're pretty soaked."

She glanced at the kitchen doorway, then called, "Quit hiding, Al. I can tell you're there."

Al walked out sheepishly and sat on the couch. "Sorry."

She laughed lightly. "Uh-huh."

"It's really boring around here," Ed announced.

"Fix the TV," she replied.

"What's wrong with it?" Al asked.

"Something with the wiring, maybe? I don't know."

Ed didn't even bother to get up and look at it. "I have a friend you'll probably want to meet. Her name's Winry; I think you'd like her."

Sting. "Can't wait." There was that Winry girl again. The rain beat on the window even more violently, and she announced, "The last time it rained like this here was a week before my mom died. She had to run outside and get her book from under the orange tree." Her announcement was met with silence. "I'm going to go put the pictures away. I want to keep some of them."

She got up and left before Ed could tell her otherwise.

Once she was upstairs, she took the only picture of her brother and clutched it in one hand while she set the box of pictures back in the closet and closed the door. She tried not to look at it; she didn't want to worry anymore.

And as soon as she closed the door to her parents' room, what should catch her eye but the lightswitch next to it? She flicked it on, and it offered dim light. A shadow was cast across her arm by something inside it. She squinted. _It's still there?_ Amazed, she held the picture in one hand and used her other to support herself while she climbed over the rail. After making sure she had a firm footing, she held onto the banister with one hand and reached for the pen that was inside the light fixture; she'd gotten mad at her father once and had thrown his favorite pen into it because he was working too much.

She was reaching, reaching, reaching... she almost had it... it was right there! Less than a centimeter away from her fingers. Just a little further! And that was when she lost her footing, and she felt the falling sensation in her stomach just before she landed in the arms of Edward Elric. The photo had slipped out of her hand, and it fluttered lightly to the ground.

There was silence for a moment.

"What are you _doing_?" Ed finally asked, setting her on the ground.

"Huh? Nothing," she picked up the photo from the floor and Ed glanced at it before he led her back into the room.

"You're a little too clumsy for your own good," he said it kindly.

"I know," she sighed, sitting next to him on the floor.

They didn't say anything for what felt like hours, but the silence was not uncomfortable. Finally, Al turned to Kairi and asked, "If you're life was a book, what would you call it?"

She raised an eyebrow. "The Story of My Life."

"That's creative," Ed smiled.

"I know," she kissed his cheek, and Al stifled his echoe-y laughter.

For now, they were at peace.

**It's over. =[= I'm kinda happy and sad at the same time. =[ but I have another sequel planned out, and I don't know if I'm even gonna bother writing it. but whateverr. =] thanks to evryone who stuck with the story. review. 3**


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